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Frontispiece Gulliver’s Travels. 










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GULLIVER’S TRAVELS 


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With Fifty-four illustrations 


PHILADELPHIA 
HENRY ALTEMUS 




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ALTEMUS’ ILLUSTRATED 


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POPULAR JUVENILE BOOKS IN WORDS OF 
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CHILD’S LIFE OF CHRIST 
CHILD’S STORY OF THE BIBLE 
ROBINSON CRUSOE 
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS 
SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON 
PILGRIM’S PROGRESS 
AESOP’S FABLES 


Copyright, 1888, By O. M. DUNHAM 
Copyright, i8 95 , By THE CASSELL PUBLISHING CO. 
Copyright, 1899, By HENRY ALTEMUS 
All Rights Reserved 


TWQCOPiti) 




•eoownonw*, 






CHAPTER I. 


I was the third of five sons. At the age of 
four and ten years, I was sent from home to a 
great school, where I stayed three years, but at 
the end of this time, as my friends had not the 
means to keep me there, I . was bound to Mr. 
James Bates, a man of much skill in the Arts 
men use to cure those who are sick or hurt. 

I was with him four years, and fou^-d. hiijvat 


6 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


all times a true friend, and one whom I could 
trust. 

From a boy I had felt that I would like to go 
to sea, to go to strange lands, and see rare sights ; 
and in all that I read at school or at home, I kept 
in view the wish to learn such things as would 
be of use to me in a life of that kind. 

At last, by the aid of my friend Mr. Bates, I 
got a place on board a ship bound for the Great 
Sea, that lies to the south east of our land. But 
when at the end of three years I came back from 
a long cruise, I met Miss May Brown, whom I 
made my wife, and now thought I would spend 
my days on land, and live in peace and joy at 
home with my good wife. 

But at the end of two years Mr. Bates died, 
and as I had few friends left, I did not thrive so 
well, and my wish to go to sea came back. So 
the next six years of my life were spent on the 
waves, and these long trips gave me the means 
to add much to my wealth. 

All the time I could spare from my work on 
board ship, I spent with good books, and when 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 7 

on shore I took care to look well at the ways of 
the men whom I saw, that I might learn all I 
could from their ways of life and modes of speech. 

The last of these trips did not turn out well. 
I grew tired of the sea, and once more made up 
my mind to stay at home with my wife and babes. 
I went from place to place, with the hope that I 
could make more gold, but when in three years 
I found that things did not mend, I took a turn 
on board a ship bound for the South Sea. 

We set sail May, in 1699, and for a while we 
had a fine sail, but on our way from the South 
Sea to the East, we were borne out of our course 
by a wild storm. 

Twelve of our men were dead from hard work 
and poor food ; the rest were quite weak from 
the same cause. 

It was the warm time of year in those seas, 
and the air so full of mist that we could not see 
our way. At length the crew saw a rock in five 
score yards of the ship, but the wind was so 
strong, and drove us on the rock with so much 
force, that the ship at once split in two. 


■8 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


Six of the crew, of whom I was one, let down 
the boat, and by hard work we at last got off 
from the ship and the rock, but we soon found 
we were so worn out with the toil we had gone 
through while on the ship, that we could not row 
more than three leagues. We could do naught 
but trust to the waves, and in half an hour a gale 
from the north burst on us, our boat was thrown 
on its side, and we were all cast in the sea. 

As for those who were in the boat with me, as 
well as those left in the ship, I know not their 
fate, but think they were all lost. For my own 
part, I swam as chance bade me, and was borne 
on by wind and tide. Now and then I let my 
feet drop, but could not touch ground. At last, 
when I could swim no more, I found the sea was 
not so deep but I could stand up in it, and the 
waves by this time had grown more calm. 

I had to walk a mile to reach the shore, which 
I did by eight o’clock at night. I went on half 
a mile more, but saw no signs of houses or men. 

I was so worn out that I lay down on the grass, 
which I found to be so short and soft that it made 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


9 


a nice, good bed, and here I had a sweet sleep 
of nine hours. 

When I woke it was just day light. I tried to 
rise, but could not move, for as by chance I lay on 
my back, I found 
my arms and 
legs were fast 
to the ground 
and my hair, 
which was long 
and thick, was 
tied down in the 
same way. I felt 
too, some thin 
bands or small 
cords cross from 
side to side of 


my breast. I 
could look in no 

way but up ; the sun grew hot, and the light 
hurt my eyes. 

I heard a slight noise near me, but while on 
my back I could see naught but the sky. In a 



I FOUND THE SEA WAS NOT SO DEEP 


10 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


short time I felt some live thing move on my 
left leg. It came up on my breast near my chin ; 
I then saw it had the form of a man, but was not 
more than half a foot high, and that he had a 
bow and darts in his hands, and a bunch of darts 
on his back. In the mean time, I felt at least 
two score more of the same kind (as I thought) 
come up, some on my feet and some on my 
breast and arms. At sight of these strange things, 
I gave such a loud roar that they all ran back in 
a fright, and some of them, as I was told, got 
hurt when they leaped from my sides to the 
ground. But they soon came back, and one of 
them, more bold than the rest, came up so far 
as to get a full view of my face, when he threw 
up his hands and eyes, and cried out in a shrill, 
clear voice, He ki nak de gul! The rest all said 
the same words three times, but of course I knew 
not what they meant. 

I lay all this time, as you must know, ill at 
ease, but at length I had the good luck to break 
the strings and wrench out . the pegs that bound 
my left arm to the ground. At the same time, 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT 


11 



I LAY ILL AT EASE 



12 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


by a strong pull that gave me much pain, I could 
move the cords that tied my hair on the left side, 
so that I could just turn my head a short way to 
the right. 

But ere I could get hold of the men, they all 
once more ran off, on which there was a great 
shout, in a shrill tone, and I felt five score darts 
strike my left hand, and saw a flight of darts in 
the air, like straws in the wind. Not a few of 
these darts fell on me, I guess, though I did not 
feel them, save on my face, on which I at once 
laid my left hand. 

When this fall of darts was past, I cried out 
with grief and pain and tried to get loose, when 
some of them came to stick me with spears in 
the sides, but by good luck I had on a thick coat 
which they could not pierce. 

I now thought it would be best to lie still till 
night, when as my left hand was loose I could 
with ease get free. As for these men, I had cause 
to think I might be a match for all that could 
come to make war on me. 

When the men saw I lay still, they shot no 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


13 


more darts, but I knew by the hum of voices, 
which I heard, that vast crowds stood near me, 
and four yards from me, near my right ear, I 
heard a noise like that made by men at work with 
tools. I tried to turn my 
head that way as well 
as the strings and pegs 
would let me, when I saw 
that they had put up a 
kind of stage which was 
one foot and a half high, 
and of a size to hold 
four or five of the men, 
and had two sets of steps 
by which they went up. 

From this stage one 
of the men made me a 
long speech, but, as he 
spoke in their tongue, I 
knew not one word of what he said. But I 
should have told you that just as he went on the 
stage he sent two score and ten men to cut the 
cords that bound the left side of my head, which 



HE MADE ME A LONG SPEECH. 


14 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


left me free to turn and look at him while he 
spoke. 

This man, whom I took to be some great 
lord or chief, was, as I thought, in the prime 
of life ; three men stood with him on the stage, 
one of whom was a page that held up his 
train, and who was as tall as half the length of 
my hand. 

The lord did the part of one who could speak 
well, and I saw that some words were full of 
threats, while some were meant to be kind. 

I spoke to him in a few words, but in the most 
meek way that I could, and tried to lift both my 
hands and my eyes to the sun, as if to call on 
him to see that I kept my word. 

As by this time I felt the need of food, I put 
my hand to my mouth two or three times, to let 
them see my wants. 

When the lord knew what I meant, he came 
down from the stage, and told his men to place 
at my sides three or four sets of steps. On these 
steps more than five score men could mount and 
come up to my mouth, with pans full of meat 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


15 


that had been sent by the king when he first 
heard of me. 

They brought me legs and loins like those of 
a sheep, but not so large as the wings of a lark. 
I put two or three of these legs in my mouth at 
one time, and took three loaves at once, the. size 
of large pills. 

They came up with my food as fast as they 
could, though they were struck dumb, both at 
my bulk and the way in which I ate. 

I then made signs to let them know I was in 
want of drink. They had found from the way 
in which I ate that no small draught would serve ; 
and as they were men of much tact, they threw 
up with great skill one of their large casks, then 
drew it up to my mouth and beat out the head. 
I drank it off at one drink, which I might well 
do, as it did not hold half a pint. This drink 
had the taste of a small wine of France, but was 
not so sour. They brought me more, which I 
drank in the same way, and made signs for still 
more, but they had none to give me. 

When I had done these feats they cried out 


16 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


for joy, and I saw them dance on my breast, and 
heard them cry out the same strange words I 
heard at first. 

They made me a sign to throw down the casks, 
but first let the men on the ground know they 
must stand out of the way ; and when they saw 
the casks fly up in the air, there was a loud shout 
that made the earth ring with its sound. 


CHAPTER II. 

I own that more than once while they went to 
and fro, I felt that I would like to size all of them 
that came in my reach and dash them to the earth. 
But the thought that what I had felt might not be 
the worst they could do, and the pledge I had 
made them, soon drove this wish from my mind. 

I could but take note of how brave these wee 
men were, who durst to mount and walk on me 
as they did, while one of my hands was free, and 
that, too, with not the least signs of fear, at what 
must have been to them so strange a sight. 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


17 


When they saw I made no more calls for 
meat, there came to me from the king a man 
of high rank, who got up first on my right leg, 
then came up to my face, with twelve of his 
train, and made me a short speech, with no 
signs of wrath, but as though he meant to be 
firm in what he said. 

More than once I saw him point to the east, 
which I found was the way in which their chief 
town lay, and where the king and his court 
thought best I should be borne. 

I spoke to him in few words and made a sign 
to let him know I would like to be set free. I 
think he knew what I meant, for he shook his 
head and held his own hands in a way to show 
me that I must go in bonds as I was. But he 
made more signs to show that I should have meat 
and drink, and that they would treat me well. 

When I saw this, I once more thought I would 
try to break loose, but when I felt the sting of 
their darts on my face and hands, in which some 
of them still stuck, I let them know they might 
do with me as they thought best 


18 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


When they saw this, the lord and his train 
went off. ^ 

Soon I heard a great shout, and felt that the 
men had made the cords loose on my left side so 
that I could turn on my right and thus rest more 
at my ease ; then they came and put on my face 
and hands a salve that took out the pain of their 
darts. 

These things, with the food and drink they 
gave me, did me much good and made me wish 
to sleep. I slept eight hours, nor was this strange, 
for the king had had a drug, to make me sleep, 
put in the casks of wine. 

It seems that when I was first seen at rest on 
the ground, the king was at once told of it, and 
he and his court made up their minds that I 
should be tied in the way I have told you (which 
was done in the night while I slept), that food 
and drink should be sent me, and that I should 
then be brought to their chief town, in which was 
the home of the king. 

This may seem a bold plan, and I am sure no 
prince in our land would try a scheme of this 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


19 


kind, though in my mind it was quite wise as 
well as kind, for if these men had tried to kill 
me with their spears and darts, it would have 
thrown me in such a rage as to give me strength 
to break the cords, when they would have been 
no match for my size and strength. 

I found that these men, small though they are, 
show much skill in the means they use to raise 
or draw great weights. The king builds his own 
men of war, some of which are nine feet long, in 
the woods where the trees grow, and has them 
drawn on wheels to the sea, one fourth of a mile 
off ; thus you see that to move so large a weight 
as I was, was no new thing to them. But you 
may wish to know how it was done. 

To this end scores of the king’s men were set 
to work to get out and bring to where I lay one 
of their large carts, or frames, eight feet long and 
four feet wide, and made to move on a score of 
wheels, put ten in a row. 

This cart set out in four hours from the time 
they first saw me on the land. 

It was brought up near to where I lay, and 


20 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


the next great task was to raise and place me 
on it. 

Four score poles, each one foot high, were set 
up by the side of the frame, and strong cords 
the size of pack thread were made fast by hooks 
to bands which the men had girt round my neck, 
my arms, my waist, and my legs. A vast crowd 
of men then drew up these cords by means of 
small wheels on the poles, and thus in less than 
three hours I was drawn up and thrown on the 
frame and there tied fast. 

All this I was told, for while they were thus at 
work I lay in a deep sleep, by the force of the 
drug put in my wine. 

A great team of the king’s horses, each less 
than half a foot high, drew me to the town, half 
a mile off. 

I slept well for four hours from the time we 
set out, when we had to stop to put to rights 
some part of the cart. At this time two or three 
of the young men, who thought they would like 
to see my face while I slept, came up on my 
breast, when one of them, a chief in the guards, 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


21 


put the sharp end of his spear a good way up the 
left side of my nose. This of course made me 
sneeze, when they all stole off, and it was three 
weeks ere I knew why I woke as I did. 



We made a long march that day, and came to 
a stop at night, with scores of guards on each 


22 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


side of me, half with lights, and half with bows 
and darts, to shoot me if I should move. 

The next morn we went on our way, and came 
by noon near the gates of the town. The king 
and all his court came out to meet me, but his 
lords, for fear of his life, would by no means let 
him come to where I could reach him. 

At the place where we came to a stop stood an 
old house of great size for that land, and in this 
it was thought best I should lodge. The gate or 
door was four feet high and two feet wide, 
through which I could creep with ease. Near 
the ground on each side of this gate was a small 
square hole, through one of which the king’s 
smith took four score and ten chains, in size and 
looks like those worn on a watch in my land. 
These he made fast to my left leg with locks. 

Vast crowds of men came out of the town to 
see me, and, in spite of my guards, came up on 
the steps to see my face, but the king soon put a 
stop to this on pain of death. 

When the men found that the chains held me 
so fast that I could not break loose, they cut all 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


23 


the strings that bound me, and I rose in as sad a 
state of mind as I had known in all my life. 

But I will not try to tell you what a noise was 
made by the crowd when they saw me first rise 
and walk. 

The chains that held my legs were two yards 
long, so that I could walk back and forth in front' 
of my house or creep in the door and lie at full 
length on the floor. 


CHAPTER III. 

Still as I had been while all these things 
went on, it was with much joy I found I was 
once more free to stand on my feet. I cast my 
eyes round me, and must own I had no where 
seen so fine a sight. The fields, two score feet 
square, were like large beds of plants in bloom, 
as I saw them spread out to my view. Here and 
there were clumps of woods, the trees of which, 
as well as I could judge, were not more than 
eight feet in height. On my left I saw the town, 


24 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


and so small was it in all its parts, that it was 
more like a sketch than a real town. 

The king now rode near me on his horse, 
though it like to have cost him dear, for the 
horse took fright when he saw me, and rose up 
on his hind feet, but the king kept his seat till his 
guards ran in and held the reins while he had 
time to get down. 

When he was on the ground he went round 
to look at me on all sides, and was struck with 
the sight of my great height and huge size, but 
took care to keep out of my reach. 

He told his cooks to give me food and drink, 
which they brought me in a sort of a cart on 
wheels. 

The king and the queen, with the chief men of 
the court and their wives, were still near me. 

None of his court is so tall as the king by the 
breadth of my thumb nail. His face shows that 
he is a man of strong will ; his skin is dark, his 
limbs well made, and he moves with grace and 
like a king He was then past his prime, and 
had ruled his land with great skill for eight years. 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


25 


That I might see him well I lay down on my 
side while he stood three yards off, though, as I 
have since had him in my hands, you need have 
no doubt that I know how he looks. 



THE KING’S HORSE TOOK FRIGHT WHEN HE SAW ME. 


His dress was plain, though he wore on his 
head a crown of gold set with gems. He held 
his sword drawn in his hand, to strike me if I 
should try to break loose. His sword was three 


26 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


inches long; the hilt and sheath were gold and 
set with gems. 

The queen, the lords and their wives, were all 
clad in such rich dress that the spot on which 
they stood was like a bright hued robe wrought 
with gold and spread on the ground. 

The king and his wise men spoke to me oft, 
but their words were as strange to me as mine 
were to them, for though I spoke to them in all 
the tongues that I knew, which were High and 
Low Dutch and French, they could not in the 
least make out what my words meant. 

At the end of an hour the court went off, and I 
was left with a strong guard to keep back the 
men, who were wild with the wish to crowd round 
me as near as they durst. As I sat on the ground 
by the door of my house, some of them were so 
rude as to shoot their darts at me, one of which 
fell short of my eye not more than an inch. 

The man in charge told the guard to seize six 
of those who took the lead in this mean act, and 
he thought it would but serve them right to have 
them bound and put in my hands. The guard 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


27 


took and bound them, but thought best to push 
them near me with the butt end of their spikes. 



I MADE A FACE AS IF I WOULD EAT HIM UP. 


I took them all in my right hand, put five of 
them in my coat, and as to the sixth, I made a 
face as if I would eat him up. The poor man 


28 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


cried out with fear, while the chief and his men 
were in much dread, the more so when they saw 
me take out my knife ; but I soon put them at 
ease, for with a mild look I cut the strings that 
bound him and set him on the ground, when off 
he ran. I took the rest out one by one, and did 
the same thing to them, and could see that this 
mark of my good will gave much joy to both the 
guards and the men. 

As night came on, I went in my house and lay 
on the ground to sleep, and this I did for two 
weeks, but in the mean time the king saw I was 
so much in need of a bed, that he sent his men 
to fix up my room so that I could rest more at 
my ease. They first brought a great pile of their 
own small beds in carts, and put them down four 
deep on my floor, which was made of smooth 
stone. Next they brought sheets, spreads, and 
such things as I would need to make me warm. 

As the news that I was in the town spread 
through the land, it brought vast crowds of men 
to see me, so that few were left for work on the 
farms, and much want of food would have grown 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


29 


out of this state of things, had not the king been 
so wise as to take steps to ward it off, for he made 
a law that those who had once seen me should 
go home and not come near my house but by 
leave of the court. 

In the mean time, the king and his men of 
state were in much doubt as to what was best to 
do with me. They had fears that I might break 
loose, and that my food would cost a great deal, 
and might in the end cause much want in the 
land. At one time they made up their minds to 
starve me to death, or at least to shoot me in the 
face and hands with foul darts that would soon 
kill me, but gave up this plan when they thought 
that the stench of such a large corpse might bring 
a plague in their town, and thence spread through 
the whole realm. 

In the midst of these doubts some of the head 
men of the troops told the court of the good will 
I had shown to the six men who shot at me. 
This made the court think so well of me that 
they at once made a law that all the towns in a 
half mile should bring in each day, six bures, 


30 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


two score sheep, and as much bread, wine, and 
beer as I might need. For these things they 
were to be paid from the king’s own purse. 

He gave me such men as I might need to wait 
on me ; paid them well, and had tents built for 
them on each side of my door. He gave charge 
that such of his men as could sew should make 
me a suit of clothes, in the style worn in their 
land ; that six of his wise men should teach me 
to speak in the words of their tongue ; and last, 
that the king’s horses, and those of his lords and 
troops of guard, should now and then be brought 
where they could see me, that they might get 
so they would have less fear when they came 
near me. 

All these things were done in due time, and 
in the short space of three weeks I knew how to 
speak some of their words and could talk with 
them. 

In this time the king came now and then to 
see me, and would help the wise men teach me. 

But the one thought and wish of my heart was 
to get loose from these bonds that bound me. like 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


31 


a wild beast to his cage, and the first words the 
wise men taught me were these to the king: “I 
beg that you will be so good as to set me free,” 
which I day by day said to him on my knees. 
To this his words, as well as I could tell were : 
“This must be a work of time and not to be 
thought on but by the aid of my court. But 
first you must swear a peace with me and my 
land. Yet we will at all times be kind to you.” 

He then said it would be best for me to earn 
his good will and that of his men by my own 
meek and wise acts. 

He said he would be glad to know that I 
would not take it ill if he had some of his lords 
to search me, for I might have one or more arms, 
which could not be safe if they were of a size to 
match my huge form. 

I said to him: “You shall be at ease on this 
point, for I can, at once, take off my clothes and 1 
turn them wrong side out, if you wish it.” This 
I made him know part in words and part in 
signs. 

He said that by their laws the search must be 


32 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


made by two of his lords ; that he knew this 
could not be done but by my aid, and he thought 
I was so kind and just he could trust these two 
men in my hands ; that what they took from me 
I should have when I left his land, or be paid for 
at the price I should set on them. 


CHAPTER IV. 

I took up the two lords and let them search 
through all parts of my clothes. 

Each man took with him a blank book, pens, 
and ink, to make a list of what they saw, and 
when they had done I took them out and set 
them down, that they might give their list to the 
king. 

This list I have put in the words of my own 
tongue, and here give you such part of it as I 
think you will wish to read : 

First,, in the right side of the Great Man’s coat, 
by a strict search, we found but one piece of 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT 


33 



I MUST BE SEARCHED BY TWO OK HIS MEN 



34 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


coarse cloth, as large as a foot cloth for our 
king’s chief room of state. 

In the left side we saw a great bright chest, 
with a lid so large we could not lift it. The 
Great Man took off the lid for us, when we went 
in and soon found that we were up to our mid 
legs in a sort of brown dust that flew up and 
made us both sneeze two or three times at once. 

In his right waist coat we found a pack of 
white, thin things tied round with a strong cord. 
This pack was as large as three men, and each 
piece was full of black marks, by which we judge 
he writes on them, though each sign is half as 
large as the palm of our hands. 

In the left side there was a sort of tool, from 
the back of which went out a score of long poles, 
like the fence near the king’s court. With this 
we think he combs his head, though we did not 
ask him, as we found it hard at times to make 
him know what we meant. 

In the right side of his pants we found a huge 
tube the length of a man ; this was made fast to 
a strong piece of wood, that stuck out on one 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


35 


side, and was cut in such strange forms that we 
knew not what to make of it. 

Out of his right fob hung a great chain. We 
bade him draw out what was at the end of this 
chain, which 
we thought 
to be a globe. 

The noise it 
made when 
he put it to 
our ears was 
like that of a 
mill, and we 
think it may 
be the god of 
this Great 
Man, since 
he said (if 

... MY WATCH THEY TOOK FOR A GLOBE. 

we knew his 

words) that he did few things in which he did 
not take this as his guide, and that it told him 
the time for all the acts of his life. 

From his left fob he took out a net as large as 



36 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


those we use to catch fish, but made with a 
clasp like a purse. In it we found some coins 
which, if they be of pure gold, are worth a vast 
deal. 

When we had gone thus far in our search we 
saw a belt round his waist, from which on the 
left side hung a sword as long as five men ; and 
on the right a pouch with two cells, each cell as 
large as would hold three of our king’s men. In 
one of these cells were some balls as large as our 
heads ; the next cell was full of black grains, 
though of no great weight or bulk, for we could 
hold two score and ten of them in the palm of 
our hands at one time. 

This is a list of what we found on the Great 
Man, who was kind to us. Made on the fourth 
day of the 89th moon of our king’s good reign. 

When this list was read to the king he bade 
me, though in kind terms, to give up one by one 
the things they had found. He spoke first of 
my sword, which I took out, sheath and all. 

At the same time he bade some of his best 
troops stand round me with swords and darts, 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


37 


though I did not see them, as my eye was on 
the king. 

He then made a sign that I should draw my 
sword, which I did, and all the troops gave a 
shout, part in joy and part in fear, for the sun 
shone bright, and they were for the time made 
blind by the light from my sword as it went to 
and fro in the air. 

The king bade me put it in the sheath and cast 
it on the ground six feet from the end of my chain. 

He next made a sign that I should take out 
one of the long tubes, by which he meant my 
small fire arms. I drew it out and, as well as I 
could, made him know the use of it. I put some 
gun dust in it, made a sign to the king to have 
no fear, and then let it off* in the air. 

The awe of the men here was as great as at 
sight of the sword ; they fell down as if they had 
been struck dead, while the king, though he stood 
his ground like a brave prince, could not gain 
his strength for some time. 

I gave up my small arms as I had done my 
sword, and then my pouch of gun dust and balls. 


38 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


I let the king know the gun dust must be kept 
from fire, as it would, from a small spark, blow 
his whole house in the air. 

I next took out my watch, which the king had 
a great wish to see. He did not know what to 
think of the noise of the watch, and it gave him 
joy to see the hands move round, which he could 
well do, as their eyes are more keen than ours. 

He told two of the guards to take up the watch 
and bear it off on a pole, as men do a cask of 
ale in our land. 

I then gave up my purse, and with it nine 
large gold coins and some small ones, my knife, 
my comb, and my snuff box and books. 

My sword, fire arms, and pouch, they took on 
a kind of cart to the king’s store rooms, but the 
rest of my goods they gave back to me. 


CHAPTER V. 

The king and his court, as well as the troops 
and men, one and all, had come to think so well 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


39 


of me that I now had some hopes that they would 
soon take off my chains and let me once more 
be a free man. With this end in view I did all 
that I could to gain and keep their good will, 
and thus they came to have less fear of me. I 
would now and then 
lie down and let five 
or six men and boys 
dance on my hand ; 
and at last the girls 
and boys would dare 
to come and play at hide 
and seek in my hair, 
and I had now got so 
I could talk with them 
with some ease, in their 
tongue. 

Their horses, that I GAVE UP MY WATCH. 

had been led day by 

day where they could see me, were not so shy 
as they were at first, but would come up to my 
feet with no signs of fear. Those who rode them 
would make them leap my hand as I laid it on 



40 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


the ground, and one of the king’s hunts-men on 
a large horse took in at one bound my whole 
foot, shoe and all, which was thought to be a 
great leap. 

I had the good luck one day to please the king 
1 in a new way. I took nine stakes, each two feet 
long and as thick as a cane to walk with, and 
stuck them in the ground in the form of a square, 
two and a half feet on each side. I took four 
more sticks and tied to these two feet from the 
ground. A piece of cloth was then made fast to 
the nine sticks that stood up straight. This was 
drawn till it was as tight as a drum, while the four 
sticks made a kind of ledge round the four sides. 

When this was done I told the king I would 
be glad if he would let a troop of his best horse, 
a score and four in all, come and ride on this 
plain. He thought well of the plan, and I took 
them up one by one in my hands and put them 
on the stage, when they at once rode off in two 
bands, each with its chief, and went through the 
acts of men at war, and that with such fine skill 
as I had not seen in all my life. 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


41 


This gave the king so much joy that he had 
them go through the same thing each day for a 
week, and the queen, who had come out to see 
them, let me hold her in her close chair two 
yards from the stage, where she could get a full 
view of the whole 
thing. 

One day, as I 
made sport for the 
court with feats of 
this kind, a man 
came in great haste 
to tell the king that 
some of his men 
who rode near the 
place where I was 
first seen had found on the ground a great black 
thing of an odd shape ; its edge was round and 
as large as the king’s bed room ; the top of it 
rose up in the midst as high as a man ; it was 
not a live thing, as they first thought, for it lay 
still on the grass, and some of them had been 
round it more than once; by much hard work 



HE TOOK MY FOOT, SHOE AND ALL. 


42 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


they had been to the top, which was flat. They 
thought the Great Man might have left it there, 
and if the king should deem it best, they would 
take five horses and try to bring it to the town. 

I at once knew what they meant, and was glad 
at heart to learn this news. While on the boat 
I had tied my hat fast to my head with a string, 
and it had stayed on as I swam, but fell off as 
I came on shore, though I thought it was lost 
at sea. 

I told the king of its use, and that I would 
be glad if they would bring it to me as soon as 
they could, as I was much in need of it. 

The next day they came up with it, but not 
in the best state. They had made two holes in 
the brim an inch and a half from the edge, and 
put two hooks in these holes. These hooks were 
then tied to their team by long cords, and thus 
my hat was drawn for half a mile (as they count 
miles in my land), but the earth was smooth and 
had no hills, so it was less hurt than I thought 
it would be. 

As I had so oft told the king of my wish that 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


43 


he would take off the chains that bound me, he 
at length brought my case to the mind of his 
court, when all the lords but one thought it would 
be best to grant my wish. This one at last made 



up his mind to yield on the grounds that the 
terms on which I should be set free, and to which 
I must swear, should be drawn up by him-self. 
These terms he wrote out and brought to me, 


44 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


and when they were read, I was made to swear 
that I would keep them. 

I swore first as we do in my own land, and 
then in the way that their law calls for, which 
was to hold my right foot in my left hand, and 
to place my right hand on the crown of my head, 
with my thumb on the tip of my right ear. 

But as you may wish to know the style in 
which these men write, as well as the terms on 
which I was set free, I here give you the whole 
thing, as near as I can, in the words of our own 
land : 

Grand king of Lil-li-put, joy and fear of the 
wide world ; whose realms are to the ends of 
the globe ; king of all kings, whose feet press to 
the heart of the earth, whose head strikes the 
sun, at whose word the kings of the earth shake 
their knees ; full of hope as the spring ; bright 
as the sun at noon ; full of awe as the blasts of 
the north. 

This Grand Prince sends to the Great Man 
come of late to our fair realms these laws, that 
by a grave oath he shall be made to keep. 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


45 


1 . The Great 
Man shall not 
go from our 
land save at 
such times as 
we may give 
him leave. 

2. Heshall 
at no time be 
so bold as to 
come in to our 
chief town but 
by our known 
wish, at which 
time he must, 
two hours ere 
he comes, warn 
our men to 
keep in doors. 

3. The said 
Great Man 
shall in his 
walks keep 



THE TROOPS MARCHED THROUGH MY LEGS. 


46 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


in our high roads, and not dare to walk or lie 
down in a mead or field of corn. 

4. As he walks the said roads, he shall take 
great care not to step on our good men or to 
take them in his hands. 

5. If one who takes our mail needs to go with 
great haste, the Great Man shall take him and 
his horse in his hands, or his coat, a six days’ 
tour once in each moon, and (if needs be) bring 
him back safe to our chief town. 

6. He shall aid us in all wars, and do his best 
to sink the fleet which we look for our foes to 
bring down on us in a few weeks. 

7. That on his grave oath to keep all these 
laws, the said Great Man shall have day by day 
as much meat and drink as he needs, and such 
marks of our good will as we may please to give 
him. 

Made at our chief town on the twelfth day of 
the 91st moon of our reign. 

I was more than glad to swear to these terms, 
when the men came and took off my chains, and 
I was set free. I fell at the feet of the king, who 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


47 




stood by, to let him know of my joy; but he 
bade me rise, and at the same time made use of 
some kind words which, lest you say that I am 
vain, I will not tell you. He 
said, too, that he thought I 
would serve him well, and 
earn all the kind acts he had 
shown me in the past, as 
well as those he might show 
me in time to come. 

As I was at last free, my 
first wish was that I might 
go through the town and see 
it in all its parts. This the 
king gave me leave to do 
but bade me use great care 
not to harm the men or their 
houses. 

I put on my short coat, for 
fear I might knock off the 
roofs with the skirts of my 
long coat, and cast my eyes to the ground at 
each step, lest I should walk on those who might 



THE GREAT GATE. 


48 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


still be in the streets, though the charge from the 
king was quite strict that all should keep in doors 
at the risk of their lives. 

I found the wall round the town to be two and 
a half feet high and one foot thick, so that a coach 
with its team could pass round on it with no fear 
of a fall. 

The town is built in the form of a square, with 
the wall of each side one third of a mile in length. 
The two large streets that run from side to side 
and cross in the midst of the town, and thus cut 
it in four parts, each the same size, are five feet 
in width. The lanes, which are too small for me 
to walk in, but which I saw as I went past, are 
one foot wide. 

The king’s house stands where the two large 
streets cross. It has round it a wall two feet high, 
but the space from the wall to the house was so 
wide I could see it well on all sides. The first 
court is a square of two score feet; and in the 
third court are the rooms of the king and queen, 
which I thought I would be glad to see, but found 
it hard to get to them, as the gates that lead the 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT 


49 



I GO THROUGH THE TOWN, 




50 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


way from square to square were but a foot and a 
half high and half a foot wide, and each house of 
the first court was five feet high, which was too 
big a stride for me to make at one step. 

At last I thought of this plan : I went to the 
king’s park, five score yards from the town, 
and with my knife cut down some of the large 
trees, of which I made two stools each three 
feet high, and so strong they could bear my 
weight. 

I took up my stools and went once more 
through the streets. When I came to the side of 
the first court I stood on one stotfl and took one 
in my hand. This last I brought up and set 
down in the space, eight feet wide, left by the 
two courts, when I could step with ease from 
stool to stool, and get in the last court. 

I lay down on my side and put my face to the 
doors of the rooms, which had been thrown wide 
that I might look in. I had at no time in my life 
met a scene so rich and grand as that which now 
burst on my view. 

The queen, who sat in her room, with her 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 51 

maids near by, was so kind as to give me a smile 
and put out her hand that I might kiss it. 



52 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


CHAPTER VI. 

One day, two weeks from this time, one of the 
lords of the realm came to my house, and said 
he would be glad to have an hour’s talk with me. 
As he was a man of rank at court, and had more 
than once been kind to me, I bade him come in, 
and told him I would lie down, that he might 
reach my ear with more ease, but he chose to let 
me hold him in my hand. 

He spoke first of my joy in that I was at last 
freed of my bonds. “But,” said he, “if it had 
not been for the state of things at court, you 
might still have been in chains, for, as much 
thrift as there seems to be in our land, we are 
not so well off as you may think. We look for 
great harm from the king of a large isle that lies 
to the north of us. This king has been at war 
with our king for two score moons past, in which 
time we have lost some of our best ships, and a 
host of our troops, while their loss is thought to 
be as great as ours. We hear that they come 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


53 


once more with a large fleet to make war on us, 
and our king, who thinks you are so brave, and 
who trusts so much to your great strength, has 



I TOOK OUT MY GLASS AND VIEWED THE ENEMY'S FLEET. 


sent me to tell you of this state of things, and 
to beg that you give us your help.” 

I bade the lord let the king know it was my 



54 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


will to serve him, and that I would at the risk 
of my own life, stand by him and his state in 
the face of all his foes. 

In a few days I made known to the king a 
plan by which I could seize the whole of this 
fleet, which, as our scouts told us, lay in the 
strait as if to sail with the first fair wind. 

As I had not yet seen the fleet, I went out 
near the north-east coast, lay down by a small 
hill, took out my glass, and there, at rest on the 
waves, I saw two score and ten men of war, and 
more small ships than I could well count. 

I then went back and told the men (for which 
I had the king’s leave) to bring me a lot of cords 
and strong bars. The cords were as thick as 
pack thread, and the bars were like pins made 
to knit with. 

To give the cords more strength, I put them 
three in one, and did the same with the bars, 
which I bent like a hook at one end, and then 
tied the straight end to the cord. 

I went back to the coast, took off my coat, 
shoes, and socks, went in the sea and swam with 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


65 


all the speed I could till I came up to the fleet. 
The men were so full of fear when they saw me, 
that they leaped from the ships and swam to the 
shore, where a vast crowd of men had come to 
look at the strange sight. I then took out my 
hooks and stuck them one by one in a hole at 
the prow of each ship, and tied all the cords in 
one knot at the end. While I did this, the foe 
shot at me with their' darts, some of which stuck 
in my hands and face, and gave me great pain. 

My chief fear was for my eyes, which would 
have been put out by the darts had I not thought 
of a means to save them. I still kept with me 
a pair of specs, which I now took out and made 
as fast as I could on my nose, then went on with 
my work, in spite of their darts. 

The hooks were all in the holes ; I took the 
knot in my hand and gave a pull, but not a ship 
would move, so that the worst part of my work 
was yet to be done. But with my knife I soon 
cut the ropes that held them in the sea, while 
the men sent a flight of darts at my face and 
hands. This done, I once more took up the knot 


56 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


at the end of the cords to which the hooks were 
tied, and found that I could move the whole fleet 
with ease. 

The men in the ships, who had not the least 
thought of what I meant to do, were at first 
struck dumb with awe. They had seen me cut 
their ropes, but thought I meant to let the ships 
float out to sea, but when they saw the whole 
fleet move in file, and saw me pull at the end of 
the cords, they set up such a loud scream of grief 
and woe as would wring one’s heart with pain 
to hear it. 

When I came to a safe place, I thought best 
to stop and pick out the darts which still stuck 
in my flesh, and rub on some of the salve I had 
found to be good when I first came to this land. 
I stayed here an hour, then went on and brought 
the fleet safe in port. 

The king and his whole court stood on shore 
to watch the end of this brave act. They saw 
the ships move on in a half moon, but could not 
see me, as I was up to my breast in the waves. 
When I had come half way the strait, they were 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 



I BRING IN THK FLEET. 



58 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


yet more in pain, for I was now up to my neck 
in the sea, but were soon put at ease, for the 
strait grew less deep at each step. 

When I came to where he could hear me 
speak, I held up the end of the cords and cried 
in a loud voice: “Long live our good king.” 

This brave prince came to meet me when I 
went on shore, and was full of praise at my brave 
deed. 

Three weeks from this time the king of our 
foes sent a band of men, who made known to 
our king the terms on which he would make 
peace. These terms met the wish of our king, 
and thus this long war was at length brought to 
an end. 

I had now been in this land nine months, and 
it may serve to please you for a while if I tell you 
of my mode of life while here. 

As I was fond of work with tools, I made, out 
of the large trees that grew in the king’s park, a 
stand from which to take my meals, and on which 
I could write. These trees were six feet high, 
and I could just reach their top with my hand. 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


59 


Ten score of those who could sew were sent 
by the king to make me shirts and spreads for 
my beds, and though these things were all made 
of cloth as coarse and strong as they could get, 
yet they had to quilt it in two or three piles, for 
none of their goods is as coarse as our lawn. 
Their cloth is not more than one fourth of a foot 
wide, and three feet make a piece. 

Those who made my shirts took my length in 
this way : as I lay on the ground, one stood at 
my neck, and one at my mid leg, with a strong 
cord which each held by the end, while a third 
found the length of the cord with a rule an inch 
long. Then they took the size of my thumb, and 
said that was all they would need, for, by a rule 
that twice round the thumb is once round the 
wrist, twice round the wrist is once round the 
neck, and so on to the waist, they could get all 
the lengths ; and by the help of an old shirt that 
I spread on the ground, that they might see its 
size and style, they made me a good fit. 

Those who made my coat and pants did not 
get my length in this way. They had me to 


60 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


kneel down, when they put a set of steps from 
the ground to my neck, and one stood on these 
steps and let fall a plumb line from my neck to 
the floor. This just gave the length of my coat, 
but the size of my waist and length of my arms 
I took. 

The cooks whom I had to dress my meat dwelt, 
as I have said, in small huts or tents near my 
house, and each brought me at meal time two 
plates of food. I took up in my hands a score 
of these cooks with their plates, and set them on 
my stand, while five score more stood by on the 
ground, some with plates of meat in their hands, 
and some with casks of wine slung on their backs, 
all which those who were on the stand drew up 
with ropes, as we do a pail from a well. 

I put a whole dish of meat in my mouth at 
once, and made one good drink of a cask of wine. 

Their lamb, which I ate bones and all, as we 
do the leg of a small bird, is not quite as good 
as ours, though their beef is. I took a whole 
goose in my mouth at one time, and own ours 
are not so good as theirs. Of the small fowls I 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


61 


could take up a score or more on the point of 
my knife. 

One day, when the king had heard of my mode 
of life, he sent one of his men to say that he 
would be 
glad if he 
and the 
queen, with 
the young 
princes of 
the blood, 
might have 
the joy to 
come and 
dine with 
me 

THEIR SHEEP, DOGS AND HORSES. 

They came 

the next day, and I set them in chairs of state on 
my stand, just in front of me, with their guards 
round them. 

The lord who has charge of the king’s gold 
was there too, with his white staff, and I saw that 
he sat with a sour face, of which I took no note, 



62 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


but ate as much as I could, both for the good 
name of my own dear land and to call forth the 
praise of the court. 

I have cause to think that from this time this 
lord spoke ill of me to the king, for he told the 
king that I had cost him a vast sum of gold, and, 
on the whole, it would be best for him to take 
the first fair chance to send me off, or get rid of 
me in some way. 

The king, from this day, was no more so kind 
to me as he had once been. 


CHAPTER VII. 

I had long thought I would like to cross the 
strait to the isle which was the home of the men 
who had of late made war on our king, for the 
men who came from there with terms of peace 
had been so kind as to say they would be glad 
to have me come and see their land. 

One night, when I had just made up my mind 
to go on this trip, for which I had leave from the 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


63 


king, one of the chief lords of state, to whom I 
had shown some acts of good will, came in a 
close chair to my house, and made known his 
wish to come in. 

The men who brought him were sent off; I 
put the chair with 
the lord in it on 
my stand and took 
my seat in front 
of him. 

I saw at once 
that his face was 
full of grief, while 
he said I must hear 
him in a thing that 
had much to do 
with my good 
name, ay more, 
with my life. 

“You must know,” he said, “that the king, 
with all his court, have for days past been wrought 
up to a high state of wrath by their talks on the 
great crimes which have been laid to your charge.” 



HE CAME TO MY HOUSE IN A CLOSE CHAIR. 


64 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


These words, as you must know, put me ill at 
ease, though I felt in my heart that, let the charge 
be what it might, it was all false ; but when he 
saw that I would speak he made me a sign to 
keep still, then went on : “Out of a wish to serve 
you, I have at the risk of my own life found out 
as much as I could of what they have done, and 
have come to let you know that the court charge 
you with a breach of faith to the king and his 
realm ; they say you have been false to the oath 
you made when they set you free, and that you 
have been a friend to his foes. 

“Each lord had his own plan as to what should 
be done to you ; all but one thought best to take 
your life, and thus once for all be rid of you. 
At last all gave in to the plan of your friend, the 
scribe, who thought it would be best to spare 
your life just yet, but to put out both your eyes, 
then day by day to give you less food, by want 
of which you would grow weak and faint, lose 
your wish for meat, and die in a few months. 

“So in a few days the scribe will come to your 
house and read you a list of the crimes with 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


65 


which they charge you ; then he will call to your 
mind the fact that the king and his court are 
more than kind, since for such great crimes as 



I AM CHARGED WITH CRIMES. 


these they take not your life, which would be but 
just (they think), but will do no more than put 
out your eyes. Two score of the king’s men 



66 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


will be here to see it well done, by means of 
sharp darts stuck in your eyes. 

“I leave it to your own tact to fall on such 
plan as you may think best ; and that they may 
not know I have seen you, I must leave in as 
close a way as I came.” 

He left me, and I sat for a long while in deep 
thought. 

At length I rose and wrote to tell my friend, 
the scribe, that, as I had leave from the king to 
do so, I would start the next day for the isle that 
lay on the far off side of the strait. 

The next morn at break of day I went to the 
shore where our fleet lay, tied a cord to a large 
man of war that lay there, took off some of my 
clothes and put them with my bed-spread in the 
ship, and drew it off with me. 

I would wade where I could touch ground, 
then swim a while, and at last came to the main 
port of the isle, where I found they had long 
been on the lookout for me. They gave me two 
guides to take me to the town. I held them in 
my hands, till I came near the gate, then sent 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


67 


them on to let the king know I was there, and 
would wait to learn his will. 

In an hour they came back to say that the 



THE SCRIBE READS THE LIST OF MY CRIMES. 


king and queen and great men of the court would 
soon come out to greet me. I went on, and 
when the king and his train saw me, each one got 



68 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


down from his horse, though I did not see that 
they gave the least sign of fear. I lay on the 
ground while the king and queen gave me their 
hands to kiss. 

There is no need I should tell you of all 
the good will shown me at this court, which 
was as it should have been from so brave a 
prince. But I did not fare quite so well as 
I had done in the land from which I had 
just come, for I had no house or bed, and had 
to lie on the ground and wrap up in my bed- 
spread. 

Three days from the time I first came to this 
land, I went, with a wish to see some new thing, 
to the north-east coast, when half a league off at 
sea I saw a thing which I thought might be a 
boat, wrong side up. 

I stood to gaze at it, when it was brought up 
so near by the tide that I knew it to be a real 
boat, that I thought might have been torn from 
some ship in a storm. 

I went at once back to the town, told the king 
of what I had seen, and that I would be glad if 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


69 


he would lend me a score of his ships, with their 
crews and some one to take charge of the fleet. 



The fleet went round the isle, while I made 
my way back by a near route to the place from 
which I first saw the boat. 


70 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


When the ships came up I took off some of 
my clothes and swam out to the boat. The men 
threw me a cord, one end of which I tied to a 
hole in the prow of the boat, and one end to a 
man of war. I had to swim at the back end of 
the boat, and push it on with one hand till I 
came to where the sea did not reach more than 
to my arm pits. 

As I could now stand on my feet, and work 
more at my ease, I took out a bunch of cords 
and tied one end of each to the boat, and one 
end to a ship. By the aid of the ships we at 
length got the boat to shore, when we made out 
to turn it right side up, and found with joy that 
it was not much hurt. 

With the help of two oars that cost me ten 
days’ hard work, I got the boat to the chief sea 
port, where a vast crowd of men came to see the 
strange sight. 

I told the king my good luck had thrown this 
boat in my way to take me to some place from 
which I could go back to my own dear land ; and 
I made bold to ask that his men might help me 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


71 


fit it up, and that he would give me leave to go 
when this was done, all of which he was so kind 
as to grant. 

The men came, and by their help I made two 
sails and such ropes as we would need to fix 


3 

them in place. For masts I cut down some tall 
trees, which the men made smooth when I had 
done the rough work. 

At the end of a month, when all was done, I 
sent to let the king know that I would be glad 
to take my leave. 



72 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


The king and queen with their sons came out 
to see me. 

He gave me two score and ten sacks full of 
sprugs , as they call their gold coins, and a full 
length sketch of him self, which I put in my 
glove to keep safe. 

I took in my boat as much bread, meat, and 
drink as I would need in a long cruise, and six 
live cows and two bulls, with some ewes and 
rams, that I might raise more of the same kind 
when I got home. 

To feed my live stock on board, I had a good 
store of hay and corn. I would have been glad 
to take twelve of the men with me, but this wish 
the king would by no means grant. 

At length, when I had put all things is as good 
trim as I could, with the means at hand, I set sail 
in the fall of the year 1701, at six in the morn. 

When I had gone six leagues to the north, I 
saw a small isle to the north-west. I went on 
till I came to the lee side of this isle, and thought 
it would be a good place to stop and rest, and 
take some food. Here I slept well through the 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


73 


night. The next morn I ate my meal, and went 
on in the same course as that in which I first set 
out. I saw no signs of men or land all that day, 



THE KING AND QUEKN CAME OUT TO SEE ME. 


but the next day, at three in the eve, I saw a sail 
far off at sea. 

I made a sign to her, in the hope that she 
would see it, and lie by for me, but she went on. 


74 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


I made all the sail I could, and in half an hour 
she saw me and shot off a gun. I will not try 
to tell you how full my heart was, when I thought 
that once more I would see my own land, and 
the dear ones I had left there. 

The ship lay by for me, and I came up with 
them at five or six in the eve, and oh, how my 
heart did leap for joy when I saw the flag she 
bore was that of my own land. 

I took my cows and sheep, and got on board 
with the small store of goods I had left. There 
were some two score and ten men in the ship, 
and I had the good luck to meet an old friend 
of mine, who gave me a good name to the man 
in charge of the ship. 

This man was kind to me, and soon made 
known his wish that I would tell him what place 
I came from last, and where I was bound, which 
I was glad to do, but he thought from my strange 
tale that I must be mad. Yet when I took out 
my cows and sheep, and set them where he could 
see them, he could but feel the truth of all I had 
told him. 


A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. 


75 


I then let him see the gold the king gave me, 
the sketch I had put in my glove, and some rare 
things I had brought from that strange land. I 
gave him some of the coins, and told him when 
we got home I would give him a cow and a 


sheep. 



I TOOK MY COWS AND SHEEP OUT OF MY POCKET. 


We came to the Downs in May, 1702. I had 
but one piece of bad luck: the rats on board 
took off one of my sheep. I found her bones 
in a hole, with the flesh all gone. The rest of 
my stock I got safe to land, and set them to 



76 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


graze on a green, where the grass was so fine 
they fed with much zest. 

I did not stay at home more than two months, 
for my old wish to see more of the world would 
not let me be long in one place. 

I put my wife in a good house and left with 
her the means to meet all her wants. My son 
John was at school, a good boy. My girl Belle, 
who is now a wife, was then in a nice home. 

I once more took leave of my dear wife and 
boy and girl, with sad thoughts and much tears 
from all, and set sail on a large ship bound for 
the East. But if you wish to know more of this 
cruise and the strange things I saw you may read 
the next part of my book. 



A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 










GULLIVER AMONG THE GIANTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

As I could at no time in my life stay long in 
one place, so in two months from the time in 
which I came back home, I took a ship in the 
Downs, in June, 1702. The ship was bound for 
the East. We had a good gale till we came to 
the Cape of Good Hope, where we must needs 


80 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


land, and while there we found that our ship had 
sprung a leak, and that we must take our goods 
on shore and stay there for some months. The 
man in charge of the ship fell ill, in the mean 
time, so we could not leave the Cape till the end 
of March. 

We then set sail and had a good cruise till we 
were north of the Line, when the wind, that had 
for ten days blown a strong gale from north to 
west, on the first of May ceased and a dead calm 
set in, of which I was quite glad. But some of 
the crew, who had been much in these seas, bade 
us look out for a storm. The next day the wind 
from the south set in and the storm came on, 
which took us so far out of our course that no 
one on board could tell in what part of the world 
we were. 

Our food held out well, our ship was strong, 
and our crew all in good health ; but we were in 
great need of fresh drink. We thought best to 
hold on the same course and not turn more to 
the north, which might have brought us to the 
great seas of ice that lie far to the north. 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


81 


On the 1 6th of June, a boy on the mast saw 
land. The next day we came in full view of a 
great island, or main land (we knew not which), 
on the south side of which was a neck of land 
that stood out in the sea. We saw, too, the 
mouth of a stream, but it was too small for our 
ship to go in. 

Here we thought best to stop for a while, and 
twelve men with arms were sent out in the long 
boat, to go on shore with jugs in search of springs. 
I went with them, that I might see the land and 
learn what I could. When we came on shore 
we saw no springs or streams and no signs of 
men. The men went off to the east side, in the 
hope that they could find springs near the sea, 
while I took a walk on the west side, where I 
found the land lone and bare and strewn with 
rocks. As there was naught to please me here 
I soon grew tired, and bent my course to the 
creek, and as the sea was full in my view, I saw 
our men get in the boat, and row for life back to 
the ship. Just as I thought to call to them, 
though it would have been no use, they were so 


82 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


far off, I saw a huge thing like a man, walk out 
in the sea as fast as he could, as if to reach the 
boat. He was up to his knees in the waves, and 
took great strides ; but our men had half a league 
the start of him, and as the sea at that place was 
full of sharp rocks, he could not come up with 
them. This I was told, for I durst not stay to 
see the end of this scene, but ran back as fast as 
I could the way I first went, then up a steep hill, 
from which I could get a good view of the land. 
I saw that fine crops grew on it, but could not 
tell what to make of the great height of the grass, 
which, in those grounds that must have been kept 
for hay, was four times as high as my head. 

In the course of my walk I came to what I 
took to be a high road, though it was but a foot 
path through a field of grain, for the men of the 
land. I had to walk an hour to reach the end 
of this field, but could not see much, for the corn 
rose so high as to cut off the view at the sides 
of the path. 

There was a stile to pass from this field to the 
next. It had four steps and a stone to cross 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


83 


when you came to the top. I did not try to 
climb this stile, as each step was six feet high, 
and the top stone was twice ten feet. While I 
tried to find some gap in the hedge that fenced 



A HUGE THING LIKE A MAN WALKED IN THE SEA. 


in this field, I saw in the next field one of the 
men, who came near the stile. He was the same 
size as the great man I saw in the sea; as tall 
as a church spire, and, as near as I could guess, 


84 


GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. 


took ten yards at each stride. I was struck with 
great fear, and ran to hide in the corn, whence I 
saw him at the top of the stile, while he cast his 
eyes in the next field on the right ; and I heard 
him call in such a loud voice, and the noise was 
so high in the air, that at first I thought it must 
come from the clouds. Soon I saw six huge 
things like him, come near, with reap hooks in 
their hands, each hook five times as large as a 
scythe. These men were not so well clad as the 
first, whose serfs or slaves they must have been, 
for when he spoke to them they went to reap the 
field of corn where I lay. 

I kept from them as far as I could, but soon 
found that I could not move fast, for the corn 
was so large and stood so thick in the rows that 
it was hard work to squeeze through. Still on I 
went, till I came to a place where the corn had 
been laid low by the rain and wind. Here I 
could not move one step, for the stalks were so 
bent down as to stop me, while the beards of the 
ears were so long and sharp as to pierce through 
my clothes and stick in my flesh. • At the same 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


85 


time I heard' the men close in my rear, and as I 
was quite worn out with toil, and cast down by 
grief, I fell to the earth and thought I would be 
glad to die there. I wept at the thought of the 
dear ones at home, and could but moan to think 
how wrong I had done when I left home on this 
trip, and that, too, while all I had gone through 
ere this was still so fresh on my mind. 

Full as I was of fear, these thoughts still ran 
through my head when one of the men came in 
ten yards of the ridge where I lay, and made me 
fear that with the next step he would crush me 
’neath his great foot, or else cut me in two with 
his reap hook. So when he went to move I cried 
out as loud as fear could make me, on which he 
trod short, cast his eyes round him, and at last 
saw me as I lay on the ground. He stood and 
thought for a while like one who would lay hold 
on a small but vile beast in such a way that it 
may not scratch or bite him. 

At last he made bold to take me by the coat 
in the back near the waist, and held me up three 
yards from his eyes, that he might see me well, 


86 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


and though his grip in my side gave me pain, 
yet I thought best not to strive in the least while 
he held me so high in the air, lest I should fall 
through his hands. All I dared do was to raise 
my eyes to the sun, place my hands as if to pray, 
and speak some words in a meek tone, for with 
each breath I thought he might dash me to the 
earth and kill me. But my good star would 
have it that my voice and acts gave him joy. 
In the mean time, I could but groan and shed 
tears, and turn my head to my sides, to let him 
know as well as I could, how he hurt me by the 
grip of his hand. I think he knew what I meant, 
for he put me with care in the breast of his coat, 
and ran with me to the man I had first seen in 
the field. 

The serf, as I guessed from their talk, then 
told the man of the farm where I had been found, 
when he took a piece of straw the size of a staff to 
walk with and threw up the front of my coat, 
which it seems he thought was some kind of shield 
that grew on my back. He then blew back my 
hair, that he might get a good view of my face. 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


87 


He said to the serfs, who by this time had all 
come up to see the strange sight, “Have you in 
all your life seen a thing like this in the fields?” 
He set me on the ground on all fours, but I got 
up and went back and forth in front of them, to 
let them know I did not wish to run off. They 
all sat down in a ring near me, that they might 
see my acts. I took off my hat and made a low 
bow to the boor (as I shall call the man of the 
farm), I fell on my knees, threw up my hands and 
eyes, and spoke a few words as loud as I could, 
and took out a purse of gold and gave it to him. 
He took it on the palm of his hand, brought it 
close to his eyes to see what it was, and threw it 
from side to side with the point of a pin that he 
took from his sleeve, but could by none of these 
means tell what to make of it. 

I made a sign that he should place his hand 
on the ground. I then took the purse and 
put all the gold in his palm. I saw him take 
up one of the large coins and bring it up close 
to his eyes, but as he was still at a loss to know 
of what use they could be, he made me a sign to 


88 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


put the gold back in the purse and keep it. This 
I thought best to do, since he would not have it. 

The boor spoke to me, but the sound of his 
voice was to my ears like that of a mill, yet his 
words were quite clear. I spoke back to him as 
loud as I could, and though he brought his ear 
quite near to me, yet it was all in vain ; he did 
not know what my words meant. 

He then sent his men back to their work, 
and took out a cloth from his coat, spread 
it on his left hand, which he put flat on the 
ground, with the palm up, and made me a 
sign to step on it. This I did with ease, for it 
was not more than a foot thick. I thought it my 
part to do as I was bid, and, for fear I should fall, 
laid down at full length on the cloth, the rest of 
which he spread on me to keep me still more safe, 
and in this way took me to his house. 


CHAPTER II. 

When we came to his house he threw back the 
cloth that his wife, who stood in the door, might 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


89 



I MADE A LOW BOW TO THE BOOR. 




90 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


see me, but she threw up her hands with a scream 
and ran back, as I have seen girls do at sight of 
a toad. At length, when she had seen my acts, 
and how well I knew the signs made me, she 
came to have less fear, and in time grew to be 
quite kind to me. 

It was twelve at noon, and a man brought in 
their meal. There was but one dish of meat (fit 
for the plain state of those who live on a farm)., 
in a dish that was two score feet long. Those 
who sat at the board were the man, his wife, one 
boy and two girls. When they had all sat down 
the man put me in front of him on the board, 
which was a score and ten feet high from the 
floor. I was in a great fright, and kept as 
far as I could from the edge, lest I should 
fall off. 

The dame cut up a small piece of meat, and 
put it with some crumbs of bread on a plate that 
she set in front of me. I made her a low bow, 
took out my knife and fork, and ate the meat and 
bread with such a zest as to give them great joy. 
She sent her maid for a small cup, that held near 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


91 


eight quarts. In this she gave me drink. I took 
up the cup in both hands and drank to the 
health of the dame, while I spoke the words in 
my own tongue as loud as I could. This made 
them all laugh so loud I thought I should be 
deaf from the 


The boor made 
me a sign to 
come to his side, 
but as I went to 
him I struck my 
foot, by chance, 
on a crust of 
bread, and fell 



HE HELD ME HIGH IN THE AIK. 


flat on my face. 

I got up at once, and as I saw they were all in 
much dread, I took my hat and waved it in the 
air, while I gave three cheers to show I was not 
hurt by my fall. 

But as I went to the man his young son, who 
sat next him, and who was an arch lad of ten 
years, took me up by my legs and held me so 


92 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


high that I shook with fright. The boor took me 
from him, gave him such a box on the left ear as 
would have thrown to the earth a troop of our 
best horse, and at the same time bade him leave 
the room. 

But for fear the boy should owe me a spite, for 
well I knew how bad some boys are apt to be in 
the way they treat birds, hares, young cats, and 
dogs, I fell on my knees, and made signs to let 
the man know my wish, that he should not blame 
his son. 

The boor thought best to grant my wish, 
and let the boy take his seat. When he saw 
that I took the boy’s hand to kiss it, he made 
his son stroke me with his hand, to soothe my 
fears. 

In the midst of the meal, the dame’s pet cat 
leaped on her lap. I heard a noise near me like 
two or three looms at work. I soon found that 
the noise was made by the cat, which was three 
times as large as an ox. The sight of this huge 
cat put me in a great fright, though I stood as 
far off as I could get, and though the dame held 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


93 


her fast, lest she might give a spring and seize 
me in her claws. 

At last, to see what the cat would do, the man 
took me up and set me down just three yards 



from her. As I have heard and found to be true 
in my life, that to run or show fear of a fierce 
beast is a sure way to make it bite or chase you, 
so I made up my mind to be calm. I went five 


94 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


or six times in front of her head, and at last, when 
I came quite near her, she drew back in fear. 

When the meal was near its close the nurse 
came in with a child a year old in her arms. This 
child at once saw me, and set up a squall that one 
might have heard for miles, while he held out his 
hands to get me to play with. The dame, out 
of a pure wish to please the child, took me up 
and put me near him, when he seized me by the 
waist and soon had my head in his mouth. Here 
my loud roar gave him such a scare that he let 
me drop, and I should no doubt have met my 
death by the fall, if the dame had not held her 
skirt to catch me. 

At the close of the meal the boor went off to 
the fields; but ere he went, gave his wife a strict 
charge (as I knew by his voice and acts) to take 
good care of me. When she saw how much I 
was in need of sleep and rest, she put me on her 
own bed, and spread on me a clean white cloth 
as large and coarse as the sail of a man of war. 

I slept two hours, and dreamed I was at home 
with my wife and dear ones, which but made 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


95 



my grief the worse when I woke and found 
I was so far from home, in a vast room, on a 
great high bed a score of yards wide, and with 
no one near me to whom I could speak with the 
hope that my thoughts would be known. 

The dame had gone to her house work, and 
had thought best to lock the door. The bed was 
eight yards from 
the floor. I had a 
wish to leave the 
room, but durst 
not call. 

W h i 1 e I lay 
there in this state 
of mind, two rats 
crept up and ran 
back and forth on 
the bed. One ran 

up so near my face I GAVE HIM A WOUND AS HE FLED. 

that I drew out my 

sword to ward him off. These dread brutes were 
so brave that they came at me on both sides, 
and one of them put his fore feet on my neck, 


96 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


but I had the good luck to give him a stout 
blow ere he could hurt me. He fell at my feet, 
and his mate made his way off, but not until I 
had dealt him a good wound on the back, which 
I gave him as he fled. 

These rats were the size of a large dog, but 
much more quick and fierce ; so that if I had not 
slept with my sword at my side, I have no doubt 
they would have torn me to pieces, and thus 
made an end of me. I took the length of the 
dead rat’s tail, and found it to be two yards 
long, but could not have the nerve to draw it off 
the bed, where it lay, still in its blood. I saw 
that it was not yet dead, but with a strong slash 
on its neck, I put an end to its life. 

When the dame came in and saw the blood on 
my clothes she ran and took me up in her hands 
to see if I was hurt. With a smile, I made a sign, 
that she might see the dead rats, and know no 
harm had come to me. At this she was glad, 
and bade her maid come in and take up the dead 
rats with a pair of tongs, and throw them out of 
the house. 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


97 


CHAPTER III. 

The dame had a girl nine years old, a bright 
child for her age. The dame, with the aid of 
this girl, made me a bed by night out of the 
babe’s crib. The crib was put in a chest, and 
the chest, for fear of the rats, was set on a shelf 
that hung from the wall. 

This was my bed all the time I was at this 
place, though made more to my taste from time 
to time, as I could make my wants known to 
them. The girl made me six shirts of as fine 
cloth as could be found, though it was as thick 
and coarse as that of which sacks are made. 
These shirts she kept clean with her own hands. 
She taught me to speak in their tongue. She 
would point to a thing and then tell me the 
name of it, so that in a few days I knew the 
names of most of things that I saw. She was 
not more than two score feet high, as she was 
small of her age. To her I, in the main, owe 
my life while in that land ; she was with me 


98 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


all the while, and was at all times as kind as 
could be; and I should prove to be most base 
should I fail to speak in kind terms of her love 
and care of me, which I wish I could by some 
means let her know I still bear in mind. 

It was now known, and soon came to be the 
talk of the men for miles round, that the boor 
had found a strange thing in the field; that it 
had in all parts the shape of a man, whom 
it was like in its acts ; that it spoke in words 
of its own ; could speak some of their words ; 
stood up straight on two feet; was tame and 
kind; would come at a call, do as it was bid, 
and had as fair a skin as the son of a lord, three 
years old. 

A man who lived on a farm near by, and who 
was a friend of the boor, came to the house one 
day to learn the truth of this tale. I was at once 
brought out and put on a stand, where I went 
back and forth, drew my sword, put it back in 
its sheath, made my bow to the guest, said “ How 
do you do?” and “We are glad to see you,” 
just as my nurse had taught me. 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


99 


The man, who was old and dim of sight, put 
on his specs that he might see me well, at which 
I could but laugh, for his eyes were to me like 
two full moons, so large and round did they 
look. When those who stood 
by knew the cause of my 
mirth, they too took part in 
the laugh, at which the 
old man fell in a rage 
and made a wry face 
at me. 

The old 
man told 
the boor 
it would 
be a good 
plan, one 
fromwhich 
he could 

make a large sum of gold to show me as a strange 
sight on a sale day in the next town, which was 
but a half hour’s ride, not more than a score of 
miles from our house. I thought there was some 



100 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


ill thing for me on their minds when I saw them 
talk for a long while, with now and then a glance 
at me ; and my fears made me think that I heard 
and knew some of their words. The next day 
my nurse (the girl) told me the whole thing, which 
she had heard from the dame. 

The poor girl laid me on her breast and wept 
at the thought that some great harm would come 
to me from the rude folks, who might squeeze 
me to death, or break my limbs if they took me 
in their hands. 

For my own part, I felt less grief than she did. 
I had a strong hope, which at no time left me, 
that I would one day be free ; and as to the 
shame that I would feel if put up for a show, I 
bore in mind the fact that no one in the land 
knew me, and that such a thing could not be 
thought a stain on my good name, since the king 
of my own land, if in the same state, must have 
borne the same ills. 

The next sale day the boor took me and the 
girl, my nurse, to the town. I went in a box 
that he took in his lap, while she rode on the 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


101 


horse with him. The girl had put the quilt of 
the babe’s bed in the box for me to lie down on. 
Yet in spite of this care I found the ride to be 



quite rough, for the horse took in two score 
feet at each stride, and his steps were so high 


102 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


it was like the rise and fall of a ship in a 
storm. 

The boor made a stop at an inn, and when he 
had had a talk with the man who kept it, and 
made such plans as he thought best, he paid a 
man to go out and tell through the town that a 
strange thing could be seen at the sign of the 
Great Hawk, a thing not so big as a plac nuck 
(a beast in that land of fine shape, six feet long) ; 
in all parts like a man in shape ; could speak 
some words, and do scores of fine tricks. 

In the mean time, I was set on a stand in a 
large room of the inn. My nurse stood by my 
side on a low stool close to the stand, that she 
might take care of me and tell me what to do. 
That the crowd might not be too large, the boor 
would not let more than a score and ten men 
come in the room at one time. 

I went back and forth on the stand, as the girl 
bade me, and spoke in as loud a tone as I could 
all that she had taught me to speak. I made 
my bows to them, said: “We are glad to see 
you/’ and drank to their health. 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


103 


I was that day shown to twelve sets of guests, 
and each time had to go through the same thing, 
till I was half dead with pain and grief, for those 
who had once seen me, told such fine tales when 
they went out, that the men made as if they 
would break down the doors if they could not 
get in. 

The boor, for his own good, would let no one 
but my nurse touch me; and to keep them off, 
seats were set round the stand in such a way as 
to put me quite out of the reach of all. Yet a 
rude boy threw a nut at my head, which, if it 
had struck me, would have put an end to my 
life, for the nut was three times as large as my 
head. You may guess I was glad to see him 
put out of the room. 

The boor gave out that he would show me on 
the next sale day, and we went back home. I 
was so worn out with the ride, and with the part 
I was made to play for eight hours at a time, 
that I could not but with great pain stand on my 
feet or speak a word. It was at least three days 
ere I got back my strength; and that I might 


104 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


have no rest at home, all the men from miles and 
miles round came to see me there. 

When the boor found that I bid fair to bring 
him so much gold, he made up his mind to take 
me to some of the great towns of the realm. 
Soon we set out for the chief town, which was 
quite a long ride from our house. 

The boor made my nurse ride with him on 
the same horse. She sat at his back and took 
me on her lap in a box tied round her waist. 
She had lined this box on all sides with soft 
cloth, put the babe’s bed in, and made all as 
much to my taste as she could. There was no 
one with us but a boy that rode by our side and 
took care of our goods. 

We made short rides of not more than eight 
score miles a day, for my kind nurse, that she 
might spare me the pain of long rides, said that 
the rough gait of the horse made her quite tired. 
She oft took me out of my box that I might have 
fresh air, and at the same time view the land 
through which we went, but at all times held 
me by a strong string. 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


105 


We were ten weeks on this trip, and I was 
shown in two score large towns, and a * few 
small ones. 


CHAPTER IV. 

It was late in the year when we came to the 
chief town, to which they give a name that means 
Pride of the World. 

The man took rooms on one of their great 
streets, not far from the house of the king. 

In the large room in which he was to show 
me, he put a high stand, round the edge of 
which there was a ledge three feet high, that 
I might not fall off. Here I was shown ten 
times a day to the vast crowds that came to 
see me. 

But work such as I went through day by day 
made, in a few weeks, a great change in my 
health, for the more the man got by me the more 
did his greed grow. I had lost my wish for 


106 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


food, and had grown to be so thin as to give one 
pain to look on my frame. The man saw this, and 
as he thought I must soon die, he made up his 
mind to get as much gold from me as he could. 

Just at this time word was sent to the boor 
that he must take me at once to the house of the 
king, that the queen and her maids might see 
me. Some of the maids at court had been to see 
me, and had told strange things of my good looks. 

When we came to the court, all were full of 
joy at the sight. I fell on my knees and sought 
to kiss the foot of the queen, but when I was put 
on a stand near her she held out her hand to me, 
which I took in both my arms and put the tip of 
it to my lips. 

She spoke to me of my own land, and the 
parts of the earth that I had seen, to all which I 
spoke back as well as I could. 

She then said: “Would you like to live at 
court?” I bent my head low and said; “I am 
the slave of the man of the farm, but if I were 
free to choose my own mode of life I would be 
proud to serve you,” 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


107 


'‘Would you,” she said to the boor, “sell him 
to me if I give you a good price?” 

He, who thought I could not live a month, 
was glad to part with me, and so he told her she 
might have me for a large sum of gold, that was 
paid to him on the spot. 

When this was done I said to the queen : 
“Since I am now to serve you, I must beg that 
you will be so kind as to let my nurse, who is so 
kind, and knows so well how to tend my wants, 
still stay with me, and teach me.” 

The queen thought best to grant my wish ; the 
boor was glad to have her live at court, while the 
poor girl could not hide her joy. 

The man now took leave of me, and said: “I 
leave you in good hands.” To which I said not 
a word, but made him a slight bow. 

The queen took me in her hand and brought 
me to the king, who was in his own room. The 
king, a prince of grave and harsh looks, said to 
the queen in a cold way: “How long since you 
grew fond of a plac nuck f ” for such it seem she 
took me to be as I lay on my breast in her hand. 


108 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


But the queen, who had a vast deal of wit and 
fun, set me on my feet on a stand in front of him, 
and bade me tell the king who I was and where 
I came from, all of which I did in a few words. 
My nurse, who stood at the door, for she could 
not bear I should be out of her sight, now came 
in and told what she knew of me since I came 
to her house. 

The king, though he is well taught and as wise 
a man as there is in his realm, yet when he first 
saw my shape, and saw me walk on my feet, ere 
he heard me speak, thought me to be a piece of 
clock work made by some man of great skill. 
But he could not hide how much he was struck, 
when he heard me speak, and found that what I 
said was full of good sense. 

His mind was by no means set at rest by what 
I told him of how I came to his land, but he 
thought it a tale made up by the man of the farm 
and his girl, who had taught me a set of words 
to make me sell at a good price. 

The king then sent for three of his wise men 
who were at court; but when they had spent 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDIXGXAG 


109 





rr: 





THE THREE WISE MEN 





110 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


hours in long talks, and the king’s mind was still 
in doubt as to what I was, I let them know my 
wish to be heard in a few words. I spoke to the 
king and said; “I came from a land where there 
are vast crowds of men of the same size as I 
am, and where all things, the beasts, trees, and 
plants, are all in due size with the men/* 

At this they did but smile and say: “You 
have been taught your tale quite well.” 

The king now let his wise men go, and sent 
for the man of the farm, who by good chance had 
not yet gone out of town. When he found that 
the tale told by the boor was in all parts the 
same as that told him by me and the young girl, 
he could but think that it must be true. He 
bade the queen take good care of me, and thought 
the girl should still tend me, as he saw she had 
a great love for me, and I was fond of her. 

The queen bade one of her men make me a 
box that might serve me as a bed room. This 
was to be made by a plan that my nurse and I 
should give him. He was a man of much skill, 
and in three weeks it was done, It was of a 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


Ill 


good size to suit my form, was made of wood, 
and had glass lights and a door like the bed 
rooms in my own land. 

The board that made the top could be moved 
up and down by two hinges, to put in a bed 
which my nurse took out each day to air, and 
made it up with her own hands. She let it down 
at night and made the roof fast. 

A man famed for his skill in small things 
made me two chairs, two stands, and a kind of 
chest to keep my things in. 

A thick, soft cloth was put on all sides of the 
room as well as the floor and top, so that I 
would not be hurt by the want of care from those 
who might move me from place to place ; and 
to break the force of a jolt when I went in a 
coach. I thought best to lock my door at night, 
lest the rats and mice should come in and eat 
me up. 

The queen had me a suit of clothes made of 
silk as thin as could be found, though it was as 
thick as a bed-spread in our land. The suit was 
in the style worn by the men of the realm, and 


112 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


though quite thick, and not much to my taste at 
first, yet was quite a grave, nice suit. 

The queen soon grew to be so fond of me 
that she could not dine save when I was near 
her, so she had a stand and a chair for me to sit 
on, put just at her side, on the board at which 
she sat to dine. My nurse stood on a stool on 
the floor, near me, to help my plate and take care 
of me. I had a whole set of dishes and plates, 
which, when seen by the side of the queen’s 
dishes, were like toys for a doll’s house. 

The queen was pleased to see me eat, for I 
took such wee bits of food at a time. She put 
in her mouth at one time as much as twelve men 
of my land could eat at a meal. Such a sight 
made me sick. She could craunch the wing of 
a lark, bones and all, with her teeth, though it 
was nine times as large as that of a full grown 
goose; and could put a piece of bread in her 
mouth as big as two of our large loaves. She 
drank from a cup of gold that held as much as 
a wine keg, and her knives were twice as large 
as a scythe would be if made straight 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


113 


CHAPTER V. 



On one day in each week it was the rule of 
the court that the queen and the young princes 
should dine in the great 
hall with the king, and at 
such times my chair and 
stand were set at his left 
hand in front of one of the 
salt boxes. This 
prince was glad to 
talk with me of the 
laws, books, etc., of 
my land. His 
mind was so 
clear that his 
thoughts on what 
I told him were 
at all times wise. 

But once, when 
I had been too 
free in my talk 


I HAD SOME TALKS WITH THE KING. 




114 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


of our trade and wars by sea and land, and of 
our schisms in the state, his love for his own land 
was so great that he could but take me up in his 
right hand, while with a loud laugh he said, “Tell 
me, are you a whig or not?” 

Then to his chief lord of state, who stood near 
him with a white staff as tall as the mast of a 
ship, he said, “ How vain are all the grand things 
of earth, when such mites as this can ape them. 
And yet I dare say they have their ranks, their 
lords, and their slaves ; they make nests that they 
call houses and towns; they make a show in 
dress; they love; they fight; they cheat just as 
we do.” And thus he went on, while the red of 
my cheek came and went more than once, so full 
was I of wrath to hear him speak thus of our own 
great land, the seat of arts and arms, yes, of all 
that is good and true, and the pride and joy of 
the whole earth. 

Yet when I gave his words more thought, I 
came to doubt if what he had said might not be 
in some part true. When I had been for two or 
three months used to the sight of these men, and 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


115 


seen that all things on which I cast my eyes were 
of the same great size, the hate I at first felt for 
their huge bulk was worn off. If I had then seen 



THE KING HAD CONCERTS AT COURT. 


a crowd of lords, like those in my own land, in 
their fine clothes act their parts with strut and 
bow and pride, I should have wished to laugh at 


116 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


them as the king and his lords now did at me. 
Nor could I keep back a smile when the queen 
would place me on her hand in front of a glass, 
in which we could both be seen at the same time, 
so that I could but think I was not so large as I 
had once been. 

There was no one thing that threw me in such 
a rage as the queen’s dwarf, who, as he was the 
least man in the realm (I think he was not more 
than a score and ten feet high), grew so pert 
when he saw me so much less than he was, that 
he would try to put on airs and look big as he 
went by me in the queen’s hall, while I stood on 
a stand to talk with the lords of the court. 

He did not pass me but he had a word to say 
of my .size. At such times I could do no more 
than taunt him with such threats as are used by 
court pages. 

One day this mean cub was thrown in such a 
rage by what I said to him, that he stood on the 
queen’s chair and took me up by the waist and 
let me drop in a bowl of cream, and then ran off 
as fast as he could. I fell in head and ears, and 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


117 


but for the fact that I knew how to swim it might 
have gone hard with me, for my nurse was in a 
far off part of the great room, and the queen was 
in such a fright she could not help me. 

The girl ran and took me out, but not till 
more than a quart of the cream had gone down 



HE DROPPED ME IN A BOWL OF CREAM. 


my throat. I was put to bed, though with no 
worse hurt than the loss of a suit of clothes. 
The dwarf was made to drink up the bowl of 
cream, nor did the queen like him so well from 
this time, but soon gave him to a friend, and to 
my great joy I saw him no more. 

He had ere this served me a mean trick, which, 
though it gave the queen a good laugh, yet it 


118 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


vexed her so much that she would have sent him 
off then if I had not been so kind as to beg her 
not to do so. 

One day, while the queen sat at tea, she took 
on her plate a large bone from which she cut a 
slice, and then set it on end in the dish. The 
dwarf, on the watch for his chance while my nurse 
was not near, got up on her stool, took me in both 
hands, and thrust me in the bone up to my waist, 
where I stuck for some time with such a grave 
face as would have made you laugh. They did 
not soon find where I was, for I would not deign 
to cry out for help, but as the queen does not at 
all times get her meals hot my legs were not burnt, 
but my socks and pants were in a sad state. 

The queen would now and then taunt me on 
my fear, and ask me if all the men of my land 
vvere as faint of heart as I was. The cause of it 
was this : there are in that land such vast swarms 
of flies, each fly as big as a lark, that while I sat 
at my meals, they gave me no rest with their hum 
and buzz in my ears. They would light on my 
food and leave their foul spawn on it, which I 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


119 


could see quite well, though the men there could 
not see it, as their eyes are not made to see small 
things. They would light on my nose and face 
where they stung me to the quick, and I had such 



A MEAN TRICK. 


hard work to keep them off, that the queen 
thought it great fun to see me start and jump 
when they came on my face. 


120 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


The dwarf would catch both hands full of these 
vile things, as I have seen school boys do, and 
then let them loose near my nose to give me a 
fright and make the queen laugh. 

I still bear in mind one fine day my nurse set 
me in my box out in the fresh air, and I had 
thrown up my sash and sat down to eat a piece 
of cake, when more than a score of wasps, drawn 
by the smell of the cake, came in my room. The 
hum of each one was as loud and harsh as that 
of a Scotch bag-pipe. Some of them took my 
cake and bore it off piece by piece. Some flew 
near my head and face, and gave me a great scare 
with their noise, and the thought of their stings, 
yet I was so brave as to draw my sword and 
strike at them in the air. Four of them fell dead, 
but the rest got off, and I soon shut down my 
sash. 

These wasps were as large as quails, and when 
I took out their stings, I found them to be an 
inch and a half long, and as sharp as pins. I 
took the best care of them, and have since shown 
them with some rare things, in more than one 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


121 


part of the world. When I went back home I 
gave three of them to a great school, and kept 
the fourth as my own. 



WASFS FLEW IN THE ROOM. 


122 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


CHAPTER VI. 

To speak the truth, I should have done quite 
well in that land, if my small size had not brought 
on me so much ill luck, some of which you may 
like to hear of. 

On fine days, my nurse would take me in my 
box out on the grounds of the court, and now 
and then would take me from the box, hold me 
in her hand or set me down that I might walk 
on the ground. Once, ere the dwarf left the 
queen, he was with us, on one of these walks, 
and while he and I were both near some dwarf 
peach trees, I must needs show my wit by some 
words that threw him in a great rage. On which 
the mean rogue, while I was neath one of the 
trees, took hold of it and shook it with such force, 
that ten or twelve peaches, each as large. as a 
cask, came down on my head. One hit me on 
my back and threw me flat on my face, but I was 
not much hurt. At my wish, the queen let this 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


123 


crime of the dwarf pass, as I was the just cause 
of his wrath. 

One day I was left on a smooth grass plat, 
while my nurse went off* with some friends. In 
the mean time there came up such a storm of 



SHE TOOK ME IN HER HAND. 


hail, that I was at once struck to the earth by its 
force; and when I was down, the stones still 
gave such hard pelts as to cause me great pain. 
At last, I got out of their reach on the lee side 


124 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


of a bed of thyme to which I crept on all fours, 
but so sore was I from head to foot that I did 
not leave my room for ten days. 

But once when we were in the same grounds 
I had a still worse fright. My nurse put me in 
what she thought was a safe place, and went off, 
which I was glad to have her do, that I might 
be free to give way to my own thoughts. While 
she was gone, a small white dog got by chance 
on the lawn, and came near where I lay, took 
me up in his mouth and ran straight to the man 
who had the care of the grounds, and with a wag 
of his tail, set me down in front of him. By 
good luck, he had been so well taught, that I 
was not in the least hurt. But the poor man 
who knew me well was in a great fright. He 
took me up in both hands to see how I did, but 
I was so out of breath that I could not speak a 
word. He took me safe to my nurse, who by 
this time had come back to the place where she 
left me, and was full of grief when she did not 
find me, and still more when I did not come at 
her call. This thing was not told at court for 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


125 


fear of the queen’s wrath ; and as for my own 
part, I thought it would not be best for my good 
name that such a tale should be known. 



From this time, my nurse made up her mind 
that at no time would she trust me out of her 


126 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


sight when not in my box. I had long thought 
she might do this, and so kept from her more 
than one sad thing that it fell to my lot to bear. 

Once a kite that flew through the grounds, 
made a stoop at me, and if I had not drawn my 
sword and run to a thick hedge he would have 
borne me off in his claws. 

One day as I went to the top of a fresh mole 
hill, I fell to my neck in the hole, and then told 
some child’s tale as the cause of the dirt on my 
clothes. Then, too, I broke my right shin on a 
snail’s shell that was in my path as I went one 
day through the court yard lone and sad, with 
my thoughts far off in my own dear land. 

I can not tell if it gave me more pride or shame 
to see, in these lone walks that I now and then 
took, that the birds, in their search for food, would 
hop in my path just as though no one was near 
them. Once a thrush was so brave as to snatch 
out of my hand a piece of cake and fly off 
with it. 

When I tried to catch these birds they would 
turn on me and try to peck my hands, and then 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


127 



THEY WOULD TURN ON ME AND PECK MY HANDS. 


/ 





128 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


hop back as calm as you please to hunt for worms 
or snails. 

But one day I took a thick club, and threw it 
with all my strength and with so much skill at a 
small bird that I brought him down, then took 
him by the neck and ran with him in great pride 
to my nurse, though while on the way the bird, 
which was not dead, gave me such strong blows 
with his wings that I thought oft and oft I must 
let him go. But one of the cooks soon came to 
my aid and wrung off his head, and the next day, 
when I went to dine, I found that the queen had 
had a nice roast made of it. This, though one 
of their small birds, was as large as our swans. 

The queen, who now and then had heard me 
speak of my sails on the sea, and who at all times 
was glad to do what she could to turn my mind 
from sad thoughts of home and friends, said to 
me one day: “Do you know how to row or sail 
a boat? Would not a sail now and then be good 
for your health ? ” 

“Yes,” I said, “I know how to row a boat, 
and would be glad to have one, but do not see 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


129 


how this can be done here, where your small 
boats are as large as our men of war, while such 
a boat as I could row would not live in your 
large streams.” 

To this she said: “If you will plan a boat 
of a size and shape to suit you, I will have it 
made and see that you have a place in which 
to sail it.” 

The men who were set to the work had so 
much skill that, with my aid, the boat was done 
in ten days. It could have held ten men of my 
size. When the queen first saw it she was so 
full of joy that she ran with it in her hands to 
the king, who said that the boat, with me in it, 
must be put in a large cask filled with the clear 
fluid that we drink, so that he could see me use 
it. But this cask was too small. 

The queen then had a trough made of wood, 
and so long and wide that it gave me all the 
room I could need. This trough, which was too 
tight and strong to leak, was set on the floor 
near the wall in one of the rooms of the king’s 
house. It had a cock in the side to let off the 


130 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


fluid, that it might not grow stale, and two men 
could fill it in half an hour. 

In this trough my boat was put, and here I 
would row it by the hour, both for my own sport 
and to please the queen and her maids, who were 
much struck with the ease and skill with which 
I could row my boat. At times I would put up 
the sails, and then I had but to steer while the 
maids gave me a gale with their fans, and when 
they grew tired of this some of their pages would 
blow the sails with their breath, while I could 
steer to right or left as I might please. When I 
had done, the nurse took the boat to her room 
and hung it on a nail to dry. 

One day, as I went out to take a sail in my 
boat, which one of the pages had put in the 
trough for me, the maid who was with nurse 
took me up to place me in the boat, when by 
chance I slipped through her hands, and should 
have had a fall of two score feet if by the best 
luck in the world I had not been caught by a 
pin that stuck in the maid’s dress. The head of 
the pin caught in my clothes near the waist, and 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


131 



there I hung in the air till nurse came and took 
me down. 

One day the man who had to fill my trough 
each third day, let a huge frog 
that he did not see, slip out of 
the pail in to 
the trough. 

The frog lay 
hid till I got 
in my boat, 
then it came 
up on the 
side, which 
made it lean 
so much that 
I found it 
hard to keep 
the boat * 
right side 
up. When, 
at last, the 


THE FROG GETS IN THE BOAT. 


frog got in, it at once made a leap half the 
length of the boat, and then went back and 


132 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


forth from side to side, and each time gave my 
face and clothes a daub with its slime. The 
size of its eyes, mouth, and nose, made it look 
the most ill-made thing that can be thought of. 
I beat at it a good while with one of my oars, 
and at last, made it leap out of the boat. 

But the worst risk I ran in that land was from 
an ape that staid with one of the clerks of the 
cook room. 

My nurse had set my box in her room and 
gone off. As the day was quite warm, the sash 
of her room, as well as those of my box, was 
thrown up, that the fresh air might come in. The 
door, too, of my box was not shut. While I sat 
by my stand wrapt in thought, I heard a noise 
as of some one bounce in the room and skip 
from side to side, at which, though I was full of 
fear, yet was so brave as to look out, then I saw 
the ape frisk and jump and leap up and down 
till at last he came to my box, at which he gave 
a look of much joy. I went to the back side of 
my box, but the ape would still peep in at all 
sides and put me in such a fright that I had not 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


133 


the sense to hide from him, as I might have 
done. At last, he saw me and thrust one of his 
paws in at the door, as a cat does when she plays 
with a mouse, and though I 
went from place to place to 
keep out of his reach, he at 
length caught 
hold of the 
front of my iTSU * IVSd 

coat (which, as 

it was made fliO)Wi3! 
of the silk of ||- ' 
that land, was ^ 1 
quite thick and 
strong), and 
drew me out 
of the room. § 

He took me 
up in his right 
fore paw, and 
held me as a 



THE APE DREW ME OUT. 


nurse does a child, and just as I have seen apes 
do with a cat in my own land, and when I tried 


134 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


to get loose he gave me such a tight squeeze that 
I thought it more wise to lie still. 

I have good cause to think he took me to be 
a young ape, from the way in which he would 
stroke my face with his left paw. 

While he thus spent his time, a noise as of 
some one at the door, gave him such a fright, 
that he leaped from the room, and on to the wall 
of a house that stood next to ours, thence up to 
the roof I heard nurse give a shriek just as the 
ape sprang from the room. The poor girl was 
wild with fear; the men in that part of the house 
came out with a great cry ; and some ran for sets 
of steps to put up to the sides of the house. 

Scores of men in the court saw the ape as he 
sat on the ridge of the house, and held me like 
a babe in his arms, and fed me with some vile 
food that he took out of the bag on one side o 
his chaps. They saw him pat me when I would 
not eat, at which they burst out in a great laugh, 
nor could I blame them, for in truth the sight 
was full of fun to all but me. 

Some of the men threw up stones with the 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


135 


hope that they could thus drive the ape down, 
but an end was soon put to this, else my brains 
had been dashed out. 

The steps were now put to the side of the 
house, and two or three men came up, which 
when the ape saw, and found they would soon 
take him, since he could not make much speed 
with his three legs, let me drop on a ridge tile 
and ran off. Here I sat for some time at a vast 
height from the ground, and in great fear that I 
should be blown off by the wind or fall by my 
own want of care, but, at length, a good lad, one 
of my nurse’s pages, came up, put me in the 
breast of his coat, and thus took me down safe. 

I was well nigh dead with the foul stuff the 
ape had thrust down my throat, but my dear 
nurse took as much of it as she could out of my 
mouth with a small pin ; I then cast up what had 
gone down my throat, and felt much more at ease. 
But I was so weak and full of bruises in the sides, 
from the hurts that the mean ape gave me, I kept 
my bed for two weeks. 

The king, the queen, and all the court sent 


136 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


each day to ask of my health ; and the queen was 
so kind as to come to see me more than once 
while I was sick. The ape was put to death, and 
the king made a law that no more such things 
should be brought to the court. 

When I got well, I went to see the king to 
thank him for his kind thoughts while I was ill. 
I found him in the mood to tease me. 

“What were your thoughts,” said he, “while 
you lay in the ape’s paws ? How did you like 
the food he gave you ? Did the fresh air on the 
roof make you feel as if in need of food ? What 
would you have done in a like case in your own 
land ? ” 

“We have no apes,” said I, “save a few that 
are brought there from strange lands as a show, 
and these so small that I could deal with twelve 
of them at one time if they should try to hurt 
me. And as for that huge ape with which I had 
my late spree (it was four times as large as a 
bear), if my fears had let me think so far as to 
make use of my good sword (with a fierce look 
I grasped the hilt as I spoke) when he thrust his 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


137 


paw in my room, I would have struck him such 
a blow as would have made him glad to take it 
out with more haste than he put it in.” 

All this I spoke in a firm tone, like a man who 
has fears lest his pluck will be brought in doubt. 
But my fine speech did naught but call forth a 
loud laugh from all in court. This made me 
think how vain it is for a man to try to win fame 
from those who are no match for him in size or 
rank. And yet I have not a few times seen the 
truth of this since I came back home, where a 
poor page, with not the least plea for rank in 
birth, wit, or good sense, would yet dare to strut 
round with pomp and pride. 


CHAPTER VII. 

I still had a strong hope that I would some 
day leave this land, though I could not guess at 
the means by which this was to be done, nor form 
a plan by which I could hope to get off. ’Tis 
true all were kind to me ; I was the pet of a great 


138 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


king and queen, the joy of the whole court, but 
these things could not fill the void in my heart 
made by the thoughts of the dear ones left in my 
own home. I had a great wish to see men with 
whom I could talk at ease, and be where I could 
walk in the streets and fields with no fear that I 
would be trod to death like a frog or a young dog. 

While I felt that such joys would one day be 
mine, yet I thought of them as a great way off, 
but they came at a time and in a way that I did 
not look for them. 

I had now been two years in the land, and in 
the first month of the third year nurse and I went 
with the king and queen on a trip to the south 
coast of his realm. I went, as I did at all times, 
in my small box, which, as I have said, was a 
small room of twelve feet wide. A man took my 
box, with me in it, in front of him on his horse, 
and to break the force of the jolts made by the 
high steps of the horse I had a bed, in which I 
slept at times while on the road, hung by silk 
ropes from the four sides of the b ox at the top. 
On the roof of my box there was a hole a foot 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


139 


square to give me 
air as I slept on 
warm days. This 
hole I shut at will 
with a board that 
drew back and 
forth in a groove. 

We came to a 
stop for a few days 
at a house which 
the king had near 
a large town not 
far from the sea. 

Nurse and I 
were much worn 
out by the ride. I 
had a cold, but the 
poor girl was so ill 
that she could not 
leave her room. 

Oh ! how I did 
long to look once 
more on the sea, 



MY GUARD. 


140 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


for well I knew if I were to leave this land, 
the sea would be the means by which I would 
get off. I made out to be worse than I was, and 
went out to take the fresh air of the sea with a 
page, of whom I was quite fond. I shall long 
bear in mind how loth nurse was to let me go, 
and the strict charge she gave the page to take 
the best care of me, and how she burst in a flood 
of tears when I left her, as if her thoughts could 
warn her of what was to come. 

The boy took me out in my box, half an hour’s 
walk from the king’s house, and when near the 
rocks by the sea I bade him set me down. 

I threw up my sash and cast a sad look out on 
the waves. I found that I was not quite well, 
and told the page that I would take a nap, which 
I thought would do me good. I got up to my 
bed, which hung from the top, and the boy shut 
down the sash to keep out the cold. 

I soon went to sleep, and all I can guess is, 
that while I slept the page, who thought no harm 
could come to me, went off in quest of birds’ 
eggs. Be that as it may, a quick pull on the 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


141 


ring in the top of the box woke me from sleep, 
while I felt that I was borne up and on through 
the air with great speed. The first jolt had like 
to have thrown me from my couch, but when that 
was past I went on with more ease. I spoke out 
two or three times as loud as I could raise my 
voice, but all to no good. There was naught to 
be seen through the sash but clouds and sky. I 
heard a sound of wings near my head, and then 
I knew the sad state I was in ; that some great 
bird had got the cord of my box in his beak, with 
the wish to let it fall on a rock, like a crab in its 
shell, and then pick me out for food. 

In a short time the strokes of the wings grew 
thick and fast, and my box was thrown up and 
down in the air like a sign in the wind. I heard 
two or three bangs or blows, as I thought made 
by the bird (for such I am sure it must have been 
that bore me up), and then all at once I felt that 
I fell straight down so fast that I well nigh lost 
my breath. My fall was cut short by a great 
splash that sent forth a sound like a huge gun; 
then I was quite in the dark for a short time, but 


142 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


soon my box rose, and I could see light from the 
top of my sash. I now knew that my box was 
in the sea. I then thought, and still think, that 
two or three great birds gave chase to the one 
which bore me off, and that while he fought with 
them he let me drop. 

But by good luck my box was so strong it did 
not break when it fell. Each joint of it was 
made to fit close, and the door did not move on 
hinges, but up and down like a sash, which kept 
my room so tight that I did not get wet. 

I got down from my bed, when I had first 
drawn back the board from the hole in the 
roof, as I was well nigh dead for want of 
fresh air. 

How I did then wish to be once more safe 
with my nurse! I may say with truth that in 
the midst of my own woe I could but think of 
the grief my poor nurse would feel, and how the 
queen would mourn when they found I was gone 
they knew not where. 

Few men have been so long in a worse state 
than I was now in, when I though that each 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


143 


blast or high wave that struck my box would 
tear it in bits or at least turn it wrong side up in 
the sea. A breach in one pane of glass, would 
have left me no hope, but a grave ’neath the 
waves. Or if I should live for three or four 
days, what could I look for, but a still worse 
death from cold, and want of food. 

I was in this sad state for four hours, in which 
I could but look for, ay, wish that each hour 
would be the last. 

There were two strong wire loops on that side 
of my box where there was no sash. In these 
loops, the man who took me when we rode on 
horse-back, would put a belt and make it fast 
round his waist. 

At last I heard, or thought I heard, a noise on 
that side of the box where the loops were, and 
soon I though that some one did tow the box 
on the sea, for I now and then felt a sort of tug 
which made the waves rise near the top of my 
sash, and leave me quite in the dark. This gave 
me some faint hope that help was at hand, though 
I could not guess from whence it had come. 


144 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


My chairs were all made fast to the floor by 
screws. I took out the screws that held one of 
them in place, and by much hard work made it 
fast to the floor ’neath the hole in the roof. I 
then got on the chair and put my mouth as near 
the hole as I could, and gave a loud call for 
help, in all the tongues that I knew. I then tied 
a piece of white cloth to a stick I had with me, 
thrust it up the hole, with the hope that if a ship 
or boat were near, the crew might see it and 
know some poor soul was shut up in the box. 

But I found that no good came from all I 
could do, yet all this time I felt my box move 
on, and in the space of an hour or more, that 
side where the loops were struck on what I 
thought to be a rock. I now heard a noise on 
the roof, like that made by a rope, and heard it 
grate as it went through the ring, and found 
that I was at once drawn up three feet. I once 
more thrust up my cloth and stick, and cried for 
help till I was hoarse. I heard a great shout 
which made my heart so fill with joy I knew not 
what to do. 




A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 145 

Next I heard the sound of feet on my roof ; 
and through the hole there came a voice that said 
in the tongue of my own land, “If there is some 
one in here let him speak.” 



IS SOME ONE HERE ? 


To which I said, “I am a man of your land, 
come by ill luck to the worst state than can fall 
to the lot of a poor soul, and I beg by all that is 
good that you take me out.” 


146 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


“You are safe,” the voice said, “for your chest 
is fast to our ship, and we will send a man to 
saw a hole in the top so large that we may pull 
you out” 

“There is no need of that,” said I, “it will 
take up too much time ; just let one of the crew 
put his thumb through the ring, and take the box 
out of the sea in the ship.” 

When they heard me talk thus, some thought 
I was mad, and some burst out in a laugh, for I 
did not once think I was now with men of my 
own size and strength. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

- • • ' ; 

The man soon came with his saw, and cut a 
hole four feet square, then let down a small set 
of steps, which I went up, and was thence borne 
to the ship. 

At first the crew could do naught but stand 
and gaze, but soon they thought to ask me scores 
of things which I felt in no mood to tell them. 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


147 







148 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


While I in turn could but stare at sight of such 
mites as I took them to be, since I had for so 
long seen none but the huge things in the strange 
land from which I had just come. 

But when the man in charge of the ship saw 
how worn and weak I was, he took me to his 
own room, gave me some wine, made me lie 
down on his bed, and bade me take some rest, 
of which he saw I had great need. 

Ere I went to sleep I let him know that I had 
some things in my box too good to be lost; a 
fine bed, two chairs, a stand, and a chest; that 
my room was hung on all sides with silk, and if 
he would let one of the crew bring my box on 
board, I would show him my goods. 

When he heard me speak thus, he too thought 
as the crew had done, that I was mad, though to 
ease my mind he said it should all be done. He 
then went on deck, and sent some of his men 
down in my box, whence they drew up all my 
goods, and stripped off the silk, but the chairs 
and chest were much hurt by the rough way in 
which the men tore them up by force. They tore 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


149 


off some of the boards from the sides of the box 
for the use of the ship, and then let the hull drop 
in the sea, where it at once sunk. 

I was glad that I did not see all this, as I am 
sure it would have brought to mind some things 
that it were best I should think on no more. 

I slept some hours, though sad dreams of the 
place I had left, and the ills I had borne in my 
late ride on the sea, ran through my brain. When 
I woke at eight o’clock at night, I found I was 
not so ill as I had been, and the head man of the 
ship had a good meal brought up to me at once. 
This man was as kind to me as could be, and 
when the men were all gone out, he said I must 
tell him of where I had come from, and by what 
chance I came to be set loose on that sea in that 
great chest of wood. 

“At twelve o’clock at noon,” said he, “as I 

jfV 

took a look through my glass, I saw the chest far 
off, but thought it was a sail, which I had a mind 
to make, as it was not much out of my course; 
but when I found it was not a sail I sent out the 
long boat to see what it was. The men came 


150 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


back in a fright and swore that they had seen a 
house that swam on the waves. I could but 
laugh at this tale, but got in the boat and went 
with them. 

As the day was calm we went round the chest 
and saw all parts of it well. I then bade the men 
row up to that side on which I had seen the wire 
loops, put the rope we had brought with us 
through these loops, and tow the chest to the ship. 
When we came to the ship I told the men to put 
a rope through the ring in the top and raise ‘ it 
up, but with all their strength the whole crew 
could not lift it more than three feet. In the 
mean time we saw the white cloth wave in the air, 
and thought some poor man was shut up there.” 

“Did you, or the crew,” I then said, “see a 
great bird in the air, at the time you first saw 
me r 

“While you slept,” said he, “I spoke to the 
crew of this thing, and one told me he had seen 
three birds fly to the north, but they were of no 
great size.” Yet I have no doubt their small 
size was due to their great height. 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


151 


I then said to him, “How far are we from 
land ?” 

“We are at least five score leagues/’ said he. 

I told him he was wrong by half, for I had not 
left the land from whence I came more than two 
hours ere I fell in the sea, at which he gave me 
a hint that I could not be in my right mind and 
bade me go to bed. I told him with a firm voice 
that I had no more need of sleep just now, and 
was as much in my senses as a man could be, at 
which he grew grave, and said, “Let me be free 
to ask you this one thing, is there not on your 
mind the thought of a great crime, for which 
some prince had you shut up in that box and 
thrown out on the waves? Though I would not 
choose to take so ill a man on board, yet I pledge 
you my word I will, if you wish, set you safe on 
shore in the first port to which we come.” 

He thought best to add, “These doubts were 
made in my mind by some strange speeches you 
made when you spoke of your chest, as well as 
by your odd looks and ways while we sat at tea.” 

I thought now was the time to tell my tale, 


152 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


which I did in good faith, from the last time I left 
my home till the hour he first saw me ; and as 
truth will force its way on a sound mind, so this 
man of some good sense could not doubt my 
words were true. But to prove all I had said I 
thought best to ask that he have my small chest 
brought in, for he had told me of what the crew 
had done with my box. 

When the chest was brought up, I took out 
some of the rare things I had brought with me. 
There were combs I had made from the stumps 
of the king’s beard, in one of which the hairs 
were stuck in a piece of the queen’s thumb nail 
for the back. There were some pins from a foot 
to half a yard long ; four wasp stings an inch and 
a half long ; a gold ring that the queen one day 
gave me, as she took it from her hand with much 
grace and threw it round my neck like a collar. 
I thought to make him a gift of this ring, but he 
would not take it. 

And last of all I bade him look at the pants I 
then had on, which were made of the skin of a 


mouse. 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


153 


I could force none of my rare things on him 
but a page’s tooth, which I saw him look at with 
much care, and found he would like to own it. 
He took it with more thanks than such a thing 
was worth. This tooth was a foot long and four 
inches through. 

When he had heard this 
plain tale all through he 
could no more doubt my 
mind was sound, “but,” 
said he, “there is one thing 
that strikes me, which is to 
hear you speak so loud. 

Were the king and queen 
of that land deaf?” 

I told him that it was 
what I had been used to for 
two years past, for when I 
spoke in that land, it was as if a man on the 
ground should talk with one at the top of a 
church spire, save when I was put on a stand 
or held in some one’s hand. And when I first 
got on the ship, and the crew all stood around 



154 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


me, I thought them to be mere mites, with voices 
quite low. 

“When we were at tea,” said he, “I saw you 
look at the tea things with a sort of daze, and 
|Uow and then seem as if you would burst out in 
u laugh, which things I knew not how to take, 
but thought it must be due to the state of your 
brain.” 

“It was quite true,” said I, “and I now can 
not tell why I did not laugh when I saw your, 
plates the size of a three pence, a leg of pork 
less than a good mouth-full, a cup not so big as 
the shell of a nut. For though the queen had 
small dishes, cups, spoons, chairs, and all things 
that I could use, made for me while I was in her 
house, yet my thoughts were so full of what I 
saw on all sides, that I could but wink at my 
own size, as men do at their own faults.” 

He felt the force of my words, and said with 
a laugh, “It would have been worth five score 
pounds to see your box in the bird’s beak as it 
flew through the air, and to have seen it in its 
fall from so vast a height to the sea, was a sight 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


155 


well worth the pen of good scribe, to tell it to 
men who will live in time to come.” 

We had a fine sail, and all went well. We 
had to stop at one or two ports for food and 
fresh drink, but I did 
not leave the ship till 
we came to the Downs, 
which we did on the 
third day of June, 1706. 

I took a kind leave of 
the man in charge of the 
ship, and made him say 
he would come to see me 
at my own house. He 
was so kind as to lend 
me one fourth pound 
with which to hire a 
horse and guide to take 

° I BENT DOWN TO GO IN. 

me home. 

While on the road I could but note how small 
the houses, the trees, the cows, and the men 
were. I had fears that I would step on each 
man I met, and now and then would call out 



156 


GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. 


to them to stand out of the way, so that I had 
like to have my brains burst out for my rude 
speeches. 

When I came to my house, for which I had to 
ask, one of my maids came to the door. I bent 
down to go in (like a goose that would pass 
’neath a gate), for fear that I should strike my 
head. My wife ran out to meet me, and I bent 
down as low as her knees, with the thought that 
she could not reach my mouth for her kiss if I 
stood up straight. 

My girl knelt that I might bless her, but I 
could not see her till she rose, as I had so long 
been used to stand with head up and eyes three 
score feet in air, and then I must needs try to 
take her up by the waist with one hand. 

I could but look down on the maids, and the 
friends who were in the house, as if they had 
been dwarfs and I had been twelve feet high. 
In short, I did and said such strange things that 
they all thought as the men on the ship did at 
first, that I had lost my wits. 

In a short time, I got rid of these strange 


A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG. 


157 


thoughts and came to look at all things in the 
right way, but my wife said I should no more 



I BENT DOWN AS LOW AS HER KNEES. 


stray from home. As to that we shall see. In the 
mean time, I here end this part of my sad tales. 


THE END. 

























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